Worsbrough Common Rising Stars

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make a positive start to their learning in this warm and nurturing nursery. They build strong bonds with the staff who care for them and smoothly settle into nursery life. They make good progress overall and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning, including starting school. Staff use their knowledge of children's interests and abilities to develop their skills and understanding well overall. Babies and children develop fine motor skills, for example, through making and moulding their play dough, mark-making large patterns and shapes with thick chalk on the ground or drawing self-portraits with crayons. These, and other skills, lay the foundations for their observation skills and later writing development.

Staff help children to feel safe, to follow directions and behave well. Children rise to the high expectations of the staff. For instance, children politely work together and give each other directions as they develop and work on their balancing obstacle course or serve their own lunches and snacks. Children learn to assess their own risk as they develop their climbing skills in the well-resourced nursery garden. Parents are appreciative of the positive impact staff have on their children's independence, confidence and social skills.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Leaders and staff have created a curriculum that supports children's progress in learning well overall. However, the planning for mathematics does not always guide staff to ensure children build systematically on their skills and understanding this area of their learning. For example, sometimes, children are expected to count and order numbers to 10 and 20 before they have a secure understanding of quantities to five.
• The nursery strongly supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and disadvantaged learners. Staff identify gaps in children's learning and development at an early stage. They work closely with parents and with other professionals, such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists. This helps to prepare these children for their future learning, including starting school.
• Staff encourage children to be increasingly independent and, for example, to organise their own toys and tidy away carefully. However, staff do not always develop children's thinking and reasoning skills. For instance, they do not always adjust their questions or follow up on children's responses to deepen and extend their learning further.
• Staff build children's communication skills well. They introduce children to a wide range of carefully chosen songs and action rhymes that help build their vocabulary and appreciation of rhyme and rhythm. They regularly revisit these to create lasting memories. Staff join in conversations as children play to guide their punctuation and vocabulary. This helps children to develop the speaking and listening skills to support the next stages in their education.
• Staff help children to enjoy a carefully considered range of fiction and non-fiction books. Staff regularly read stories in engaging ways that build children's concentration and anticipation. They introduce them to exciting new vocabulary and experiences. For example, children recall the phrase 'oozy mud' from a favourite story as they explore their digging and planting activities. Staff support children to build a broad and rich vocabulary to help them reach their potential.
• Children's good behaviour and personal development is strongly supported. They make good use of books and stories to help children identify and appreciate their own emotions and feelings. Staff skilfully support children who find it difficult to express and manage their own behaviour to make steady and secure improvements.
• Staff promote children's good health and well-being. They work closely with parents to help babies establish good sleeping routines and support children's toilet training. Children enjoy the well-planned and nutritious meals and healthy snacks.
• Leaders are ambitious to ensure all children leave the nursery as happy, confident and eager learners. They are well-qualified and positive role models to staff and children. Leaders support staff's ongoing professional development well. There is low turnover of staff and morale is high.
• Staff build strong links with parents. They share information on children's progress regularly and offer guidance and support for learning at home. Parents appreciate the care and support staff offer to their children and themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the planning for children's mathematical learning so that their skills develop in a systematic and progressive way
• focus staff's professional development on strengthening the quality of their interaction to deepen children's thinking and reasoning skills.