Nutfield Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy the forest school experience and spend most of their day investigating the outdoor spaces. This stimulates children's interest in their learning environment.

Consequently, children confidently engage in the opportunities staff provide for them to develop their physical skills. Babies enjoy the sensory experience of picking up and looking at different flowers while they splash their feet in water. Older children ride wheeled toys around the garden, negotiating the hills and obstacles that they come across on their journey.

This supports children to develop their gross and fine motor skills.Staff use effec...tive strategies to enhance children's communication and language skills. They follow children's interests and encourage them to make up their own stories and songs.

Children use mathematical language in their play. They talk about their imaginary lifeboat being 'thick' and 'long'. Staff introduce props and instruments to enable children to develop their creative experiences.

This captures children's attention and engagement. As a result, children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. Staff ensure that each child has a chance to share their ideas.

They learn to respectfully wait for their turn and listen to their friends. This builds on children's social skills, which helps to prepare them for when they start school.

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

Leaders consider ways to enhance staff's well-being.

For instance, they encourage staff to recognise each other's contributions. Consequently, staff feel supported by leaders and enjoy working at the nursery. Leaders also support staff effectively to strengthen their practice.

This is done through regular meetings, role modelling and spontaneous observations. This helps staff to continue to improve the quality of their teaching.Staff carry out home visits for their key children before they start.

This enables staff to get to know children well. Staff continue to develop bonds with children through engaging interactions, observations and progress checks. This helps them to quickly identify when children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), require additional support.

Staff promptly share information and work in collaboration with parents and other agencies so that children are consistently supported with their ongoing development.Leaders want children to be confident learners. Staff support this by ensuring that children have opportunities to inform their own learning.

For instance, staff invite older children to choose which 'job' they would like to do each day. This gives children the responsibility to carry out a task, which helps them to feel valued and included.Children learn to grow in independence.

Toddlers enjoy serving lunch to their friends, and older children serve their own food at mealtimes. However, on occasion, staff wipe children's noses for them and they refresh supplies for their activities rather than allowing children to access the resources themselves. This does not fully support children to develop their independence skills.

Staff provide children with many different experiences to enhance their understanding of the world around them. For instance, staff sing familiar nursery rhymes in their home language. This enables children to learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others.

Staff also plan activities to grow food that will be used to prepare meals. This helps children to learn about where their food comes from.Staff respond promptly to support children with their behaviour, particularly when they are struggling to regulate their feelings.

However, staff do not consistently explain why they have asked children to modify their behaviour. For instance, when staff see some children licking their knives, they ask them to stop, which helps to reduce the risk of harm to children. However, staff do not always provide explanations.

This does not fully support children to understand what is expected of them.Staff assess children's progress to inform what they want them to learn next. For instance, staff implement strategies to encourage children to develop friendships by building on their confidence to play alongside other children.

Staff inform parents about what their children are working towards in their learning and provide them with ideas on how they can support their child's learning at home. This helps children to continue to develop well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff have good safeguarding knowledge. They can talk about the signs and symptoms of abuse, and they know the safeguarding policy for dealing with any concerns and how to refer these to the appropriate agencies. Leaders ensure that staff's knowledge is relevant and up to date through regular discussions.

Leaders also provide parents with information on how to keep their children safe. Staff deploy themselves effectively to reduce the risk of harm to children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nincrease the opportunities in the daily routine for children to practise their independence nuse strategies to help children learn how to regulate their behaviour.