The Old Station Nursery, Heyford Park

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children thrive in this welcoming nursery.

They are happy and feel safe. Staff show a good understanding of how babies and children learn. They provide experiences that support children's interests and cover all areas of learning.

Babies show fascination and delight as they transport water using scoops and jugs, and explore the feeling through their fingers and hands. Older and most-able children are proud of their achievements. For instance, some children confidently make marks in paint and competently write the first initial in their name.

Children are learning to recognise letters and make marks in readines...s for school.Children have regular physical play opportunities to promote their physical well-being. For example, babies enjoy 'tummy time,' new walkers are supported to cruise around low-level furniture and pre-school children enjoy taking part in the 'Daily Mile'.

Children's communication and language skills are supported well. Staff in the baby room provide a constant narrative as they chat to the babies in their care. Toddlers develop their emerging language skills through their role play.

For example, one child describes how he needs to 'peel' his pretend onion and 'crack' his pretend egg. Older and most-able children display their good knowledge of animals and dinosaurs. For example, a child tells the inspector how the pond snake 'slithered,' through the water and an 'omeisaurus' is a dinosaur with a very long neck.

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

The manager knows her staff well. She efficiently evaluates the quality of staff practice and the impact on children's achievements. The manager is ambitious and uses self-evaluation successfully to identify the strengths and areas of development.

Children learn to be independent from an early age. Staff support babies to feed themselves and encourage older children to manage their own self-care needs. Staff are good role models.

Children behave well, are polite and use good manners.Parents' views of the nursery are highly complimentary. They say staff share regular information with them about their children's well-being and learning.

Parents praise the hard work of the manager and her staff. They comment how staff supported them extremely well through the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, providing activities and ideas to support children's learning at home.Staff's interaction with children is positive, overall.

However, during some activities, staff move away from children to complete routine tasks, such as preparing the sleep area. This results in children losing interest in the activity and learning is interrupted.Key persons help children to feel secure and this supports them to settle swiftly at the nursery.

Staff support children's emotional development and give comfort to them. For example, staff use family books with pictures of the children's families to help them to continue to feel connected to their family.Children are motivated to explore and investigate and, overall, show good levels of curiosity and concentration.

However, sometimes, during longer and larger group activities, such as singing time, some children find it difficult to maintain their interest. The organisation of these activities does not consistently support the different ages and needs of children at these times.Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively and work well with a wide range of other professionals.

They implement effective support plans to help children catch up in their learning and make progress. Staff also work very closely with teachers to help support a smooth move on to school for children.Good arrangements are in place to support children who are learning English as an additional language.

Staff find out about children's home language vocabulary and use visual picture prompts to support young children's language development.Professional development is strong. Staff receive good encouragement to further their own qualifications and careers.

They speak very highly of the support that they receive from managers. The manager implements systems to ensure that staff's workload is managed effectively and their well-being is consistently supported. This means that staff feel valued and enjoy their roles.

Staff know the children well. They use their knowledge of children's development progress to plan a curriculum that follows children's interests and extends their development towards all areas of learning.Staff use additional funding well to address gaps in children's learning.

For example, by providing one-to-one support for children, tailoring staff training and purchasing further resources.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good knowledge of a wide range of safeguarding issues and how to keep children safe.

They know the signs and symptoms of potential abuse and have a secure understanding of the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child's welfare. The manager works closely with partner agencies to support children's welfare effectively. She regularly updates staff's training to support their safeguarding knowledge, which includes training around wider safeguarding concerns.

Staff discuss safeguarding routinely, such as in team meetings and regular quizzes. This helps to promote children's safety and well-being.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the organisation and timings of large group activities to ensure all children are consistently well supported nenhance opportunities for children to maintain their concentration and exploration during the times when staff leave activities to carry out routine tasks.