St. Michael’s School House Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happy as they rush into this warm and nurturing nursery school.

The experienced staff meet the children with wide smiles and caring cuddles, helping them to settle quickly. Staff undertake home visits and welcome families in for settling-in sessions. In addition, families are invited into the nursery for other celebratory days, such as Grandparents' Day.

This ensures that staff build strong bonds with families and create early attachments with children. Settling-in processes for children are effective.All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good prog...ress from their starting points and demonstrate positive attitudes towards their experiences.

Early and ongoing assessments of children's learning allows staff to identify children who would benefit from additional support. Managers make timely referrals and work exceptionally well with other professionals to provide personalised support for these children. This helps to support the needs of children with SEND well.

Children move freely around the large outdoor area that staff have carefully planned to suit the children's interests and stages of development. The children delight in pouring water from jugs into a variety of containers, with some even mastering pouring water into a tiny toy whale's mouth. Staff praise children for completing tasks and demonstrating good skills, such as these.

This has a positive affect on children's confidence and well-being.

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

The inspirational leadership team has recently implemented a new and ambitious curriculum. It is dedicated to ensuring that children become confident and independent learners.

Staff implement this curriculum well, and children are encouraged to do things for themselves and become more resilient in their work and play. For instance, children register themselves and select resources for their own learning and play. Staff challenge children to solve problems for themselves, saying things such as, 'How could you make that stick?' or 'Where might another snail be hiding?' The managers have implemented robust systems to collate information on children's starting points.

Staff are, therefore, informed about children's development effectively. This supports them to best plan for children's next steps in learning.Staff support children's mathematical development very well.

They use mathematical language with the children during play and ensure that mathematics is embedded in the environment. For example, during self-serve snack times, the children need to check signs using numerals and symbols that indicate how much fruit they may take. Staff use language such as 'full', 'empty', 'higher' and 'lower' when playing alongside children who are emptying and filling pots.

Children's communication and language development is promoted well. They delight in joining in with repeated phrases and actions of known stories, such as 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt', and staff model and explore ambitious vocabulary. For example, when young children are making potions, staff explain the word 'ingredients' to the children.

The children then keenly use this word appropriately when adding items to their containers.Children behave well. They generally understand the nursery school rules and only require gentle reminders to adhere to these.

Staff act as positive role models, and children play harmoniously alongside their friends, keen to help each other. For instance, when playing matching games, children help their friends to remember where the card they require is hiding, after staff have modelled this. Occasionally, however, staff do not support children as effectively to behave well during daily routines, such as lunchtime.

These parts of the day are not always well organised to take into account all children's needs. For example, children become restless when waiting for others to finish and do not benefit from consistent support to make positive behaviour choices.The managers and staff have excellent relationships with parents.

They work hard to involve parents in their children's lives at nursery. Parents speak very highly of the staff and appreciate the genuine care they provide for their children. Parents are kept up to date with their child's progress through reports and regular meetings and are advised on how best to help support their child at home.

Parents of children with SEND feel particularly well supported.The well-established team works exceptionally well together. Staff report that they are supported very well by the leadership team and their well-being is prioritised.

The leaders are highly reflective and ensure that a variety of training opportunities are available and regularly undertaken by staff. Therefore, the staff's knowledge and skills are kept up to date and their practice supports the needs and development of the children effectively.All staff have an excellent understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and are explicitly clear when explaining what they would do should a concern about a child's welfare arise.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the organisation of daily routines to help staff offer more consistent support for all children to behave well at these times.

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