Zone 4 Kids

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff have high expectations of themselves and of children. They provide an extremely welcoming environment. Staff in the nursery have sensitive settling-in procedures that meet the needs of individual children. Parents can choose to come for as short or long visits as they feel their children need. Staff build up a strong rapport with children. The children can choose who their key person will be through the bonds they develop. Children are very happy in the nursery.

Staff clearly show they understand the learning intent of the activities they provide. Their interactions across the setting are of a high quality. Staff are lovely and calm when working with children. The children know that what they say will be valued by the staff. Children become deeply engaged in their work and play. They spend considerable time at activities supported by staff. Pre-school children explore how to get flowers out of ice. They work out what is the best tool as they try water, hammers and salt. Two-year olds explore icing sugar and ice cubes. They make marks in the mixture and talk about what things feel like.

Children's behaviour is excellent. They follow staff's directions well. Staff focus on helping children understand their feelings from an early age. They are highly successful at this. Two-year-olds identify the characters in a book and say they are sad, happy or calm. This helps children to take account of other children's feelings.

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

• Staff have an extensive understanding of the curriculum and how children learn. They skilfully plan for children's next steps to match their individual needs precisely. Staff know why they have certain resources and activities available to support children's progress. As a result, children have an exceptionally strong foundation in learning. They make superb progress from their individual starting points.
• Staff's professional development is given a high priority. Managers and staff identify training that will support their practice. Most recently, one of the special educational needs coordinators has attended training to learn about the role. She has learned how to fill in paperwork for referrals, to build a picture of the child, and how to complete early help assessments. This has helped her to link with other professionals, teachers and parents.
• The provider has comprehensive procedures in place to support staff. They have appointed a well-being ambassador, who looks after the well-being of staff. She is there if staff need someone to talk to. There is also a hotline if staff wish to speak to someone outside of the company. Some staff are long serving with up to 20 years' experience of working for the provider. Staff spoken to said they love working in the nursery and feel they are well supported by the provider.
• The provider and managers are passionate about children achieving the best outcomes. They reflect well on practice and are keen for staff to look at how they can continually develop what they do with the children. For example, staff from nurseries in the group meet regularly for 'think tank' sessions. At the latest one, staff brainstormed about the benefits of children visiting the beach. They decided that it would make children aware of the environment and help them learn about the tides and water safety.
• The setting is highly effective at linking with other local provisions onsite. They share children's progress with each other and follow the same learning for children. Feedback from the nursery school has helped nursery staff to understand that they need to focus more on children's physical development. This has become a focus for children's learning.
• Partnership working is especially effective for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities who attend more than one setting. For instance, staff from both settings attend any training that is needed, such as from a physiotherapist. This helps children in their care.
• Staff support children's communication and language development extremely well. They speak clearly to children and listen carefully to them. Staff give children time to work things out for themselves when they ask them questions. They use new words with children to expand on what they know. They repeat words for children so that they hear the correct way to say them.