Sandhurst Station Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children come into the nursery eager to start their day and are greeted enthusiastically by the attentive and caring staff. The majority of families come from military backgrounds, and staff clearly understand the community they serve.

Several family members may be absent for some time due to deployments, so staff recognise the need to support the mental health and well-being of the children and their parents. Communication between the management team and parents is a key strength of this setting and it is clearly effective as children show that they feel secure, settled and confident. Every child is respected and considered of... equal importance, regardless of the amount of time they spend at this setting.

Staff help children to make good progress due to the timely interventions and targeted support they put in place to meet children's developmental needs. Children demonstrate good behaviour and are supported well to learn how to share and take turns. For example, children use a sand timer and wait patiently for their turn to ride on a bicycle outside.

They respect the rules and willingly finish their turn, without reminders from staff. Children show care and concern for each other. They give each other hugs to say thank you when their friends share their toys.

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

The manager maintains very good links on the base between the nursery and military management. This benefits families in a number of ways, including the support for families who speak English as an additional language. The manager is proud of this relationship.

For example, staff take children to the temple next door to celebrate Nepalese festivals; they dress in saris, sing songs and read stories in Nepali, which helps all children to gain a respect for different cultures and religions.Children are confident learners. They are interested in the activities and resources on offer and, overall, remain busy and engaged in their play.

However, staff do not always recognise and adapt the routine when some children become more boisterous and show through their play that they need to engage in more active play.The manager and deputy work well as a team. They understand the importance of supporting their staff's well-being and, as a result, all staff have recently completed mental health training.

Staff comment that they feel valued and respected. The positive relationships between staff reflect the atmosphere within the nursery, where children are well mannered, polite and confident to talk to visitors to the setting.Staff recognise the importance of partnership working between all individuals and agencies involved in the care of children.

Staff are quick to seek support for children who may need additional help with their learning. Parents comment extremely positively on the care their children receive. They refer to the 'compassionate' staff and feel well-informed about their children's progress.

Staff know children well and plan activities to meet their needs and interests. They confidently explain why they have put different resources out and how these will benefit the children. On occasion, however, staff do not use their good knowledge to fully enhance children's learning during their interactions with them or ensure that the activities children have access to are consistently well resourced to fully support children's play.

For example, staff did not provide additional resources or challenge children to consider how to collect mud for the mud kitchen when the soil was too hard to dig up.Staff support children's communication and language development well. For instance, they use snack time as a lovely social occasion to talk about the healthy food the children have brought in to eat.

Staff help children to challenge stereotypes as they read stories about 'people who help us' and talk about how teachers and people delivering the post can be any gender.Children show care and concern for each other. Toddlers say 'ouch' when they are concerned their friend has hurt themselves.

They learn to care for their environment and know to tidy up when staff ring the bell.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The management team seeks regular training opportunities to keep staff's safeguarding knowledge up to date.

Staff know how to identify different signs of child abuse and the correct procedures to report any concerns. The manager works well with military personnel to put in place comprehensive recruitment systems. This, along with regular supervision meetings, helps to ensure staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff create a safe and secure environment for children to play and learn in. Staff deploy themselves effectively and risk assess the premises to minimise hazards to children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review and improve the organisation of some aspects of the daily routine to maximise the support for children who like to spend time outdoors or engage in active play support staff to further strengthen the delivery of the curriculum, so that staff consistently consider the interactions, activities and resources that they provide to make the most of children's learning opportunities.