Hazles Farm

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settle well at this warm and nurturing setting. They receive a structured settling-in process, which allows parents to be fully involved in their child's initial baseline assessment. Children develop secure attachments to their key person, who have high expectations for every child.

Staff get to know all the children that attend and are aware of their individual needs and interests. This enables all staff to support children's individual targets. Children follow the rules and routines of the nursery and behave very well.

Children are encouraged to live healthy lifestyles. They spend quality time ...learning outdoors. Children in the baby room strengthen their muscles by crawling, walking and climbing in their secure outdoor area.

They explore sand, and enjoy scooping and pouring it into a bucket. They delight as they make marks with chalk and water. Older children access the forest area.

They excitedly search for minibeasts and learn about how to look after them. Children take an interest in wildlife and identify the environmental sounds that they hear. Children display high levels of concentration.

They sit for extended periods of time during activities that interest them. Staff use their creative teaching skills to capture children's interests and build on what they already know and can do.

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

Children benefit from a communication-rich learning environment.

Staff regularly sing songs and rhymes with children, using puppets and props. Children delight as they join in, and often make choices about the songs and rhymes they would like to sing. Staff get down to children's eye level and communicate with them, which supports children to learn to form words correctly.

They sit with children at mealtimes and join in with conversations about their interests. Children regularly choose stories to share with staff. They read it together and talk about the pictures they can see.

This encourages a love of reading and extends children's vocabulary.Staff in the setting encourage all children to be independent learners. Children in the baby room begin by learning how to hold a spoon to feed themselves and move around the room independently.

As children get older, they learn how to dress themselves and make choices about their own learning. Children in the pre-school room put their wellies on independently before playing in the sand pit. These opportunities help children to develop key skills that prepare them for their future learning.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make very good progress. The attentive staff get to know children's individual needs and work with their parents and other agencies to set achievable targets. Staff receive additional training to support their understanding of children's individual medical needs.

This ensures that all children can access the same experiences. Managers use additional funding appropriately. They employ experienced staff, who work closely with the special educational needs coordinator to support children's individual targets.

Parents speak highly of the setting and the positive experiences that their children receive. They know who their child's key person is and are aware of their targets. Staff support parents with strategies that they can try at home to support children's positive behaviour.

The online learning journal that the setting uses allows parents to see what their children have been learning in nursery. This allows parents to work in partnership with staff to support children's individual development, and improves outcomes for children.The management team are passionate about their roles and continually reflect on practice.

Managers know what their priorities for development are and work together to plan for the future of the setting. The new purpose-built outdoor classroom is used to extend children's learning about nature, love of books and provoke their natural curiosity even further.Staff receive regular supervision meetings and new staff receive a positive induction process.

The managers support the well-being of staff, which helps them to feel appreciated and supported. However, not all staff are fully aware of the priorities for their professional development. This means that, occasionally, there is scope to build on some staff's teaching skills even further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff are fully aware of their safeguarding responsibilities. They know the signs and symptoms of abuse and how to share their concerns with appropriate agencies.

Staff are aware of how to whistle-blow if they have concerns about a member of staff and understand the role of the local authority designated officer. There are appropriate risk assessments in place to help to keep children safe from harm. Staff teach children how to manage risks appropriately.

There is a robust recruitment process in place. Managers complete the appropriate checks to ensure that only suitable people can work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen supervision to ensure that all staff receive focused and highly effective professional development opportunities that elevate their already good teaching even further.