Basildon Hospital Day Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children thrive in the nurturing care of the dedicated staff. They are extremely happy and content. They form exceptionally close bonds with staff and feel a secure sense of belonging.

The youngest children enjoy looking at picture cubes of their families, thoughtfully provided by their devoted key persons, and this helps them to feel exceedingly well settled. Children behave exceptionally well. They listen carefully to staff as they explain the rules and expectations of the nursery.

Children are aware that staff work very hard to keep them safe. They delight in being chosen as 'safety detectives' and have respo...nsibility for checking that any hazards to their friends are removed or reduced. They ensure the chairs are pushed under tables and their dinner plates are cleaned.

All children make outstanding progress in their learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. Children have high levels of curiosity as they explore the exciting range of resources and activities provided inside and outdoors. They welcome new challenges and are eager to engage in activities to promote their creative thinking, such as building their own stories from beginning to end.

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

Staff are exceptionally skilled and talented. They continually reflect on their practice and that of their peers. Managers provide superb opportunities for staff to pursue their personal and professional development through training and enhancement programmes.

They encourage ambition and promotion within the company.Partnerships with parents are very strong. Staff ensure that all parents are fully involved in their children's learning.

They support parents in many ways to continue the learning outside of the nursery environment. For example, staff provide parents with an education pack to help extend children's literacy and numeracy skills further.Staff introduce many innovative and thought-provoking activities that arouse children's imagination and eagerness to learn.

For example, they incorporate soft toys, such as learning dinosaurs, into activities in order to promote children's thinking, exploration and perseverance. Staff encourage children to listen, reflect and ask questions as they use picture cards at snack times to stimulate discussion.All children develop excellent communication and language skills from a young age.

Staff share 'chatter baskets' that comprise of photographs, with individual children. This leads to conversations and the introduction of new words. Children are encouraged to talk and pronounce words clearly.

Staff are enthusiastic in their readiness to listen to children. They respond eagerly to the youngest children's attempts at speech. Staff produce 'word walls' to share with parents, as children build on their vocabulary.

Staff provide excellent resources to encourage children to use their fingers and wrists and develop hand control in readiness for early writing. Children develop a passion for books. They have access to a huge variety of reading materials to inspire them further.

Staff provide a very carefully selected assortment of books in a lending library for children to take home to read with their parents. They take a staged approach to reading for those children who are ready to move on to a higher level of learning.Children spend a lot of time outdoors in all weathers.

This helps to build their resilience and enhance their health. Staff encourage children to take risks in their play and to persevere when challenged. For instance, they build children's confidence hugely and voice encouragement as they practise balancing on logs.

Children choose what they want to learn next and staff extend their learning further. For example, when children decide to practise writing their name in chalk outdoors, staff ask them to find objects beginning with the initial letter of their name. When children say they want to race, staff enhance the game by introducing hopping, jumping and galloping to the finishing post.

Children of all ages learn exceptional self-feeding skills. They independently eat their healthy meals and snacks with extreme enthusiasm. Staff support children to learn excellent hygiene skills and sensitively support them to manage their own personal care effectively.

Staff use an excellent range of resources to teach children how to manage their emotions. Children look after each other, share their toys and wait patiently for their turn.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff receive thorough training in safeguarding and child protection every year. They are extremely confident in their knowledge of all safeguarding matters. Staff are fully aware of the signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm.

They know how to record any incidents and where to report any concerns. Managers question staff often to ensure they maintain a thorough knowledge and understanding of legislation and nursery procedures. Managers check that all staff remain suitable to work with children and they have exceptionally safe recruitment procedures for employing new staff.