Rocking Horse Kindergarten

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are settled and happy throughout the nursery. Staff interactions with children are generally warm, positive and friendly.

Babies and young children's care needs are well met. Staff encourage children to manage their self-care more independently as they grow. Pre-school children begin to learn to self-regulate their own behaviour.

Staff use the 'calm corner' and emotions flashcards to teach them about the importance of their feelings. They encourage them to share and talk about these with their teachers and their peers.Babies, toddlers and pre-school children are very busy throughout nursery, particularly indoo...rs.

They are motivated to play, explore and learn. Staff use what they know about children's interests, age and stage of development to extend their learning in the moment. Babies enjoy exploring sensory materials, such as pasta and play dough.

Toddlers like exploring small-world toys, such as cars, and building with bricks. Pre-school children play dramatic role-play games on their 'stage' area and sort objects by size, comparing big and small.The nursery is inclusive and the support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good.

Communication, language and literacy is well promoted. Staff talk to children, model language and introduce new vocabulary as they play. Staff engage children in music, singing and sharing books across the provision.

Pre-school children like drawing pictures and learning about the sounds that letters make. All children make good progress.

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

Leaders are very reflective.

They know the nursery's key strengths and have ambitious plans for future development. However, these are in the early stages, and they are yet to implement all of their planned strategies in practice. Staff feel supported in their roles.

There is mentoring for apprentices in place so their practice swiftly becomes good. However, there is scope to further enhance staff's professional development to help elevate the quality of education to the highest level.Staff know their key children well.

They routinely observe them and check what they know and can do. Staff plan based on children's interests, and focus on closing gaps in learning. The curriculum is broad and the environment is well resourced, particularly inside.

Children enjoy lots of physical play outside, such as riding on trikes and bikes. However, staff do not yet make the best use of the outside-learning environments. Therefore, there is room for managers to help staff further embed the curriculum securely across the provision, including outside.

The key-person system is strong. Children build secure attachments with key staff as transitions are well supported, including settling in. Key persons also support children to adjust to change and become emotionally ready for moving on to school.

Staff find out about children's home lives on entry and keep updated of any changes. Children's diverse cultures are celebrated. Staff value other languages children speak and work with their parents to support them to become bilingual.

There is a really respectful culture throughout the nursery.Children generally behave well. Pre-school children follow staff direction; they are very cooperative and help with small tasks.

However, on occasion, toddlers struggle to fully participate in key daily routines, such as tidying up or sitting down to lunch. Staff's verbal requests during these times are not always pitched at the right level. They do not utilise visual communication strategies consistently enough in practice to help all toddlers cooperate with these routines.

Children's good health is promoted. Staff embed hygiene regimes, such as washing hands, before eating. The nursery cook provides a nutritious and well-balanced menu for all children, which takes into account their dietary needs.

Staff invite their local dentist to talk to the children about the importance of brushing their teeth. They also provide advice and guidance to parents about how to support children's well-being.Parents are highly positive about this nursery.

They are pleased with the progress their children make and how happy they are to attend. Staff ensure parents are kept well-informed, which leads to a 'joined up' approach in supporting every child. This has a positive impact on the continuity in children's care and learning between the setting and home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The premises is clean, safe and secure. Recruitment processes are good.

All managers and staff are suitably vetted. New staff benefit from robust induction so they fully understand their key responsibilities. Managers and staff have very strong safeguarding knowledge.

They identify possible child protection or neglect concerns and swiftly manage these. The nursery designated safeguarding lead is highly knowledgeable in her role. She provides key updates and good support to all managers and staff in relation to safeguarding.

Relationships with relevant external professionals are good. This helps to protect children from harm.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to make even better use of the outside-learning environments to help further embed the curriculum securely across the provision help staff to utilise visual-communication strategies more consistently in practice, specifically in toddler room, to help these children further their participation in key daily routines and cooperate fully during transition times nimplement the already planned strategies to extend staff's professional development to help elevate the quality of education even further.

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