Yorley Barn Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

There is a buzz of excitement heard from the children as they enter this highly stimulating and nurturing nursery. They happily part from their parents and carers. Staff use their excellent teaching skills to ignite children's curiosity and motivate them to be independent learners. Children are highly inquisitive; they ask questions to further their knowledge. For instance, when painting using water on the concrete flooring on a sunny day, they ask staff why their pictures are disappearing. Children share their own thoughts and ideas on why this has happened.

Children consistently try hard to succeed. For example, they persist when exploring which objects float and sink in water. Children use the freedom they have to explore the highly stimulating environment and wonderfully rich selection of resources. Younger children enjoy playing with friends digging, looking for objects in the mud garden, and building sandcastles.

Babies maintain high levels of involvement in their play. They concentrate for prolonged periods given their age, such as when they are building towers and listening to a story. Older children are becoming confident communicators and join in with in-depth conversations with staff and their friends. Staff successfully introduce new words into children's vocabulary, such as 'delicious' and 'sunk'. Children later use these words independently in their play.

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

• Staff expertly build on children's knowledge and interests and what they need to learn next. Children make excellent progress and develop the key skills needed to be ready for school. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are fully included in all aspects of the routines of the nursery. Staff have an exceptional knowledge of how to captivate children's attention. Staff encourage children to investigate and have a go at activities. This helps children to become inquisitive learners. For example, they become fully immersed when looking for shapes around the room.
• Children's behaviour is impeccable. They are happy, calm and friendly. Younger children readily share and take turns. Older children are excellent role models; they recognise the feelings of others and willingly invite them to join their activities.
• Staff create an ambitious curriculum for all children with an abundance of experiences and opportunities that enhance their learning. Children thoroughly enjoy water play as they tip and pour water into containers. Staff offer highly effective support to children and model new language expertly, introducing new words, such as 'empty' and 'full'.
• Children have excellent opportunities to discover the natural world around them. They learn to care for living things such as the nursery's chickens and have the opportunity to collect the eggs that have been laid. When horses are walked past the nursery, the children stop their play to see and talk to them.
• Staff skilfully support children to develop healthy lifestyles. Children enjoy a range of fruits for snack and healthy lunches from home. They are actively encouraged to do things for themselves and develop their independence skills. For example, children are challenged to take the lid off their yogurt and to competently pour their own milk or water. When finished, children put their rubbish in the bin and slide their chairs under the table.
• Partnerships with parents are superb. Parents share the staff's passion for the setting and are extremely happy with the regular communications they receive on their child's development. Parents comment that the nursery is 'amazing' and 'wonderful'.
• Staff significantly demonstrate high levels of interactions with children. These interactions actively contribute to children's good language and communication skills. Children take books home and share with their families. They enthusiastically engage in stories that are planned for their age and stage of development. Older children listen to stories and recall what the story is about, demonstrating their excellent understanding. Babies thoroughly enjoy listening to stories and staff skilfully use books to extend and challenge their learning during activities.
• The management team continually reflect on the service provided. The team's dedication and passion for providing the highest quality care and learning helps to ensure staff are continually improving the quality of the provision. There is strong focus on the well-being of staff, who consistently all state that they are extremely well supported. Staff have outstanding training opportunities, including bespoke training to support individual staff training needs.