The Old Station Nursery - Alcester

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff are loving and attentive. They develop close bonds with the children. Staff manage children's personal care needs really well so children are well cared for.

Children are settled and happy. They are confident attending. Staff keep children safe and encourage them to try new things.

They supervise children closely and help them take appropriate risks in play, such as using tools with support. Pre-school children develop independence in managing their own care needs. For example, they serve their meals at lunchtime.

Staff have good expectations of children's abilities. The curriculum is broad, and children... enjoy a variety of activities indoors and outside. Children have fun and enjoy attending.

Babies like experimenting with blowing bubbles and catching them. Toddlers enjoy exploring sensory materials, including cornflour and water, and building with construction bricks. Pre-school children like taking part in activities to celebrate Halloween, including painting pumpkins, carving pumpkins and dressing up as imaginative characters, such as princesses and fairies.

Children develop positive attitudes towards learning. Overall, they are interested in activities and are motivated to learn. Children are polite and develop good manners.

They listen and respond to staff and like small responsibilities, such as tidying up. Children progress well and gain the skills they need for the next stage of their learning.

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

Managers are passionate and ambitious.

The provider liaises very closely with the early years team and other providers. Managers of the company's settings get together routinely and liaise with a range of professionals. Self-evaluation is embedded.

Managers set clear and focused goals for future development. This helps the nursery to continually maintain high standards.Teaching is good.

Staff know the children really well. They routinely observe and assess their learning. They provide daily child-led and adult-directed activities, which help to promote children's key next steps in learning.

The nursery's special educational needs coordinator is knowledgeable, and support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent. Managers monitor children's progress. They identify gaps in learning promptly and ensure these are addressed.

All children continually progress well.Staff supervision processes are robust. Staff are observed, have one-to-one meetings with managers and benefit from training in safeguarding, promoting children's physical well-being and education.

Managers also effectively monitor staff workloads and are highly sensitive to promoting their personal well-being. This has a positive impact on the quality of the provision.Staff promote communication, language and literacy.

For example, staff interact with children positively, talk to them and ask plenty of questions. Babies enjoy looking at books with their teachers, toddlers like singing during play, and pre- school children learn to recognise their own names. However, there is room to review the organisation of whole-group activities aimed at fostering these skills.

Occasionally, the sessions provided are too lengthy and complex. Therefore, they are not always fully age appropriate and do not entirely promote children's engagement at the highest level.The nursery is inclusive and welcoming.

Staff find out from parents about children's different religions or cultures on entry. They encourage them to share this in the setting. Staff take children out in the community, which helps widen their understanding of the world.

Staff promote good behaviours throughout the nursery. This helps promote tolerance and acceptance.Staff promote being healthy as a priority in this nursery.

Recently, the nursery has adopted a healthy eating campaign, which has included reviewing the menus. Babies and toddlers enjoy practising their physical movements as they learn to ride on wheeled vehicles and make use of the climbing equipment and slide. Pre-school children enjoy organised sports sessions, swimming and yoga.

Staff share two-way information about children's care and learning with parents, using a variety of strategies. However, managers and staff do not seek parents' input into proposed changes and new initiatives at the earliest opportunity. There is scope to extend parent partnerships to help develop the best possible links between the nursery and home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The nursery is well organised. Record-keeping is effective.

Managers implement a range of policies and procedures that support the safe running of the setting. The environment is well laid out, secure, clean and tidy. Risk assessment is effective.

Staff conduct daily safety checks of all areas in use to help minimise any hazards. The safeguarding knowledge of managers and staff is strong. They are alert to different indicators of potential child abuse or neglect.

They also have a sound awareness of wider safeguarding concerns, such as radicalisation and extreme practices. This helps to protect children from different types of harm.

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 of whole-group activities, particularly those aimed at promoting communication, language and literacy, so that the experiences provided are fully age-appropriate and promote children's engagement at the highest level nextend parent partnership and seek their input into proposed changes and new initiatives at the earliest opportunity, to help develop the best possible links between the nursery and home.

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