Weydown Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The manager and staff provide a varied curriculum for children to help them gain the skills they need for the future.

They understand the differing needs of children, including those who speak English as an additional language, children in receipt of additional funding and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff have high expectations for children and plan ambitiously for their learning, particularly around developing their literacy skills. For instance, staff use the 'letter of the week' to teach children about letters and the sounds they represent.

This contributes to children's good la...nguage skills and helps them gain skills in readiness for reading, when the times comes.Children develop good relationships with staff and behave well. They are happy, safe and well cared for in the nursery school.

Staff get to know children's individual personalities, likes and interests. For instance, staff encourage children to choose favourite books and sit with them to share stories. Staff listen to what children have to say and value their ideas, thoughts and suggestions.

Staff recognise the value of helping children to learn about the wider world. They include different cultural festivals that are important to children and their families. Staff help children to learn about the natural world well.

For instance, children enjoy nature walks and visit local museums and farms. They benefit from these experiences to broaden their awe and wonder about the world they live in.

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

Staff have consistently high expectations of each individual child.

The support in place for children with SEND is excellent. The member of staff who takes the lead role for supporting children with SEND is passionate about helping children to achieve the best possible outcomes. Strong partnerships between the staff, parents and external agencies support children with SEND and those in receipt of additional funding to make rapid progress from their individual starting points.

The manager and her staff are well qualified. They work together to provide an environment that is resourced to interest and motivate children to learn. Staff reflect on the nursery school and identify where they can make changes that will benefit children the most.

For instance, changes to the outside play area have helped children learn to grow and harvest fruits, vegetables and flowers. This has contributed to children's knowledge of the natural world.Staff know their key children well.

They understand what children enjoy and how to tailor learning opportunities to build on what their key children know and can do. However, sometimes the written systems used to plan for children's learning are overly burdensome. This does not always help staff to use their good knowledge to reflect on children's achievements and to share with each other what they want children to learn next.

Children develop warm, trusting relationships with staff. Children's emotional well-being is central to the ethos of the nursery school. This helps children to develop good levels of confidence and self-esteem and to help them learn about positive behaviour.

Staff are polite and courteous when talking to children. In turn, children learn how to develop the emotional maturity they need for their future learning.Staff teach literacy skills well.

For instance, they help older children to recognise the letter 'i' and teach children how to match this with the sound this letter represents. Staff then help children to think about other words that might start with the same letter. Overall, activities help to challenge children's learning and support their good attention skills.

However, during group activities the noise levels within the hall increase, which hinders how children are able to hear and concentrate to the best of their abilities.The manager recognises the value of building on staff knowledge and skills. She meets regularly with staff to discuss training and helps them to evaluate how they can use new skills to continue to improve outcomes for all children.

For instance, recent training staff completed on promoting children's physical skills has been used to help staff review and provide resources to develop children's coordination and dexterity.Partnerships with local schools are well established. The manager and staff use these relationships to help them find out what children need, to be ready for school.

This has helped staff focus on building children's independence. For instance, staff teach children how to prepare snacks, pour drinks and tidy away after themselves. Children are keen to do things for themselves and gain a sense of pride in managing some self-care skills.

Staff recognise and praise their achievements, to build children's self-esteem.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager ensures that all staff have a robust understanding of their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe.

Staff benefit from regular and pertinent safeguarding training so that they know what might indicate that a child is at risk of harm. Staff recognise when children may be exposed to extreme views or ideas. They know how to report concerns, following the nursery school procedures.

The manager ensures the suitability of all staff who work at the setting, including on an ongoing basis. This helps to ensure that children play and learn in an environment that promotes their physical welfare.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: consider ways to minimise background noise and distractions during planned speaking and listening activities, so that children's concentration and engagement in activities are fully promoted help staff to reduce workload, introducing a more efficient way to reflect on and share children's next steps in learning.