Yesodey Hatorah Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have highly effective partnerships with parents, and strong key-person arrangements are in place. Children build attachments with their key persons and staff know the children in their care well. This helps staff to plan and deliver an ambitious curriculum based on children's individual needs and interests. Staff ensure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. Children demonstrate that they feel happy and safe as they engage with activities, listen carefully and respond to instruction throughout the day.

Children bring handwritten notes from their parents praising their behaviour at home. Staff read these messages out at the start of the day so everyone can hear examples of children's kindness, generosity and helpfulness at home. Staff have the same high expectations of children's behaviour at nursery. They offer praise and encouragement throughout the day to reinforce these expectations. This helps children to develop positive attitudes to their learning and their interactions with their friends.

Leaders successfully combine teaching related to their faith and culture with the requirements of the early years foundation stage curriculum. For example, when learning about blessings for different foods, children also learn how vegetables grow, how bread is made and the origins of other produce. This helps children to make sense of their physical world and their community as they engage with the well-planned curriculum.

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

• Staff understand what they want children to learn while at nursery, which helps them to deliver an educational programme that supports children across all areas of the curriculum. Staff meet regularly to discuss children's interests and plan for their learning. Staff consider how to target experiences, and close gaps in knowledge, for individual children. For instance, all children participate in projects to develop their emotional literacy. Staff use resources, created by the children, for more targeted work with children learning to regulate their emotions. This precise planning means that all children are engaged in purposeful learning throughout the day.
• Children enjoy access to outdoor play during the day. However, staff do not plan outdoor play areas, particularly for the youngest children, as well as those indoors. For example, children struggle to use equipment because resources are not organised in a way that makes them accessible. In addition to outdoor play, children have scheduled access during the week to an indoor soft-play area, which they thoroughly enjoy. These opportunities to extend their mobility help children to develop strong bones, good balance and physical confidence.
• Children access reading and stories, independently and as part of group sessions led by a member of staff. Throughout the day, staff interact with children, discuss their work and support social interaction. This helps children to develop their early language skills and their vocabulary in both English and Yiddish. Children engage fully with regular singing sessions that involve music, movement and props linked to curriculum topics. For example, songs to celebrate the Purim festival involve wearing colourful clown wigs and joyous dancing, which results in much amusement.
• The setting's special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has a good overview of children with SEND. The SENCo works closely with children's key persons and parents to develop effective plans to support children to make good progress. Staff monitor children's attainment and work with the SENCo to adapt and enhance plans for individual children. Leaders ensure that timely referrals for additional support are made to external agencies. This supports an inclusive environment that promotes the interests and learning of all children.
• Children participate in regular routines that promote their physical well-being. Children know to wash their hands after using the toilet and before they eat. Children eat healthy food, freshly prepared on site, and drink water throughout the day. This helps children to gain an awareness of how to keep themselves safe and healthy. Leaders are aware of the higher than average levels of child tooth decay in the community they serve. Children learn about oral hygiene as part of a topic session for a fixed period. However, this does not ensure that children fully understand the importance of toothbrushing as part of their regular hygiene routines.
• Leaders carefully consider working patterns to ensure that all staff can achieve a balance between their home lives and their roles at the setting. Staff have opportunities to discuss their role and professional development during regular supervision sessions. This results in high levels of staff retention and job satisfaction. Teaching practice is strong and staff have a good understanding of the requirements of their roles. Children benefit from the continuity and experience provided by the long-standing staff team. Children transition easily to the next stage in their learning, as staff prepare them well for change, including their eventual move to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff practice to provide children with high-quality learning opportunities when they play outside
• embed continuous practice that supports children's oral health to ensure that they are regularly brushing their teeth and parents understand the importance of oral hygiene.