The Country Mouse Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and enjoy the time they spend in this warm and friendly nursery. All children, including those who are new, settle quickly.

The small staff team knows the children well and creates a family feel to the nursery. Children have strong emotional attachments to the caring staff, who cuddle and comfort them as and when needed. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff act as positive role models and they have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children are spoken to in a calm and respectful manner and they are praised often.

This helps to boost child...ren's self-esteem. Children are kind and polite to staff and each other. For example, they say 'please' and 'thank you', play cooperatively and demonstrate positive behaviours, such as being kind, sharing and taking turns.

Children make good progress in their development, including those in receipt of additional funding. They show a positive attitude to learning and are eager to join in with the activities. For example, babies show high levels of engagement and enjoyment during an outdoor water play activity with staff.

They smile, babble, splash and move their bodies with excitement. Babies learn to scoop, pour and transfer water and giggle as they work on their control and coordination skills. Pre-school children concentrate fully and use language such as 'heavier' and 'lighter' as they use scales to weigh and measure different items.

All children are keen to show what they know and can do.

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

The manager develops an inclusive curriculum that incorporates children's interests when planning activities. She is clear about what she wants children to learn.

This includes the key skills that children need in preparation for school, such as being able to communicate clearly. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to provide additional support for children who need it.Children's language is developing well.

Staff place a strong emphasis on supporting children's early communication and language skills by modelling and extending children's language while they play. For example, staff in the baby room gently repeat and pronounce words correctly and introduce new vocabulary to children. Older children enthusiastically join in with stories and songs and have lots of conversations with adults and other children.

Staff provide a variety of challenging equipment to support children's small physical skills in readiness for early writing. For example, younger children use large plastic tweezers to pick up small objects. Older children make 'potions' and use a concoction of water, feathers, herbs, soil and stones and a range of utensils to mix and transport the mixture to different places.

Children understand and follow the rules and routines in nursery. However, on occasion, staff do not fully support children's individual needs during routine transition periods such as nappy changing, mealtimes and nap times. This means that, at times, some children become disengaged and restless.

Parents praise the nursery and the positive impact it has had on their children's development. They comment that their children have made good progress and have settled well into the nursery.Staff encourage healthy lifestyles across the nursery.

Children have opportunities to learn about the world around them and to enjoy fresh air and exercise outdoors. They exercise their large muscles as they confidently learn to climb, run and balance in the outdoor area. Recently, staff introduced yoga sessions.

They teach children about different breathing techniques. This helps to promote children's mental well-being.The manager is passionate about her role and is knowledgeable and dedicated.

She has a clear vision for the nursery and understands the importance of quality care. Staff report that they feel happy and supported in their roles.The manager provides some feedback for staff to help them to improve their practice.

However, feedback is not always specific enough to help individual staff improve their skills and knowledge further. Consequently, there are some variations in the quality of education across the nursery. For instance, not all staff are clear about the learning intentions of activities to ensure they support children's learning even further.

This means that, at times, some children are not fully challenged.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have a sound knowledge of how to ensure that children are kept safe.

They can identify the signs and symptoms which may indicate that a child is at risk of harm. Staff know who to contact if they have concerns about a child's safety and welfare. They are supported through training on various aspects of safeguarding at induction, through additional training and staff meetings.

Rigorous recruitment procedures are in place for all staff. Staff complete thorough risk assessments to help ensure that the areas of the premises children access and trips off site are safe and suitable.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: consider how to support children effectively during routine transitions to ensure that they do not become restless and disengaged provide staff with more sharply focused feedback and professional development opportunities to help them to improve their skills and knowledge even further.