The Village Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are confident and motivated to learn, and staff value each child highly. They get to know children's personalities, likes and dislikes and use this information to meet children's needs. Staff have high expectations of children.

Children have good communication, language and literacy skills. Staff read a wide selection of good-quality books to children. Children show real interest in books and happily browse through stories.

Older children can recognise and write their own names. Children have good understanding of the world; for instance, staff take children on regular outings to the local nature reserve, wher...e they observe frogs and spawn. They discuss how they grow and live.

Children gain good understanding about differences. Staff teach them about different cultural and religious festivals, such as Diwali and Hanukkah. Children play with a range of resources that reflect different races and cultures.

Children practise turn-taking skills. They take turns as they play organised group games and share outdoor resources. Children behave very well.

Staff support younger children to gain good social skills. Children behave in safe ways; for example, staff teach them how to act with care and caution while on outings, and teach them about road safety. The curriculum is broad and balanced well.

Children learn valuable skills in preparation for school.

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

Children gain good mathematical skills. For instance, they sort toy dinosaurs into groups according to colour and size.

They learn to count securely by singing number songs and rhymes. Children learn to recognise numbers as they play hopscotch in the garden.Staff provide children with a variety of opportunities to develop their physical and creative skills.

For example, children take great pleasure in creating their own 'magic potions' from cocoa powder, lemon juice and soap. Staff encourage them to smell and feel the different textures. Children use good small-muscle control to mix and pour the ingredients.

In addition, children use paintbrushes, glue sticks and scissors. They climb up ladders, steer wheeled toys and balance well over stepping stones.Children behave well.

Staff share their expectations with children by asking them to use kind hands and to care for each other. They praise children when they behave in positive ways, and explain why some behaviour is not acceptable. Children gain good understanding of their feelings.

For instance, staff use stones with painted faces expressing different emotions to show and discuss with children. They ask children how they are feeling and sing songs about different emotions. Children spend time in a sensory room, where they take part in different calming activities whenever they need to.

Children have good independence skills. They take off and hang up their coats, remove their shoes and put on their indoor slippers. Staff support younger children to manage their self care.

Older children serve themselves at snacktimes.Children have good awareness of oral hygiene. Staff talk to children about how to keep their teeth and gums healthy.

Children take part in creative activities where they paint teeth and toothbrushes to support their understanding in this area.Staff work effectively with parents, and keep them up to date on children's progress by talking with them each day. They have parents' meetings twice a year to share information with parents about children's progress.

Parents describe the nursery as a 'home from home' for children.The manager supports staff well to do their roles. The manager meets with staff regularly to discuss their work and training needs.

She and her deputy monitor their work well. For example, they spend time in group rooms to observe staff practice and offer advice where needed. Staff attend regular training, such as courses on autism, to keep their practice up to date.

The management team evaluates all aspects of the nursery with staff to identify strengths and weaknesses. They have set clear goals to build ongoing improvements, namely to continue to develop staff skills and qualifications.In some group rooms, particularly the room for children aged two to three years, background music sometimes affects children's ability to concentrate due to the volume.

During daily routines, staff sometimes remove children to deal with their personal care, such as changing their nappies. Although this is done respectfully, children do not have chance to finish what they are doing, and this disrupts their learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager ensures that all staff have appropriate background checks to keep children safe. Staff carry out regular risk assessments to identify and remove the risk of hazards in the nursery. Staff have good safeguarding knowledge.

They can identify signs that a child might be at risk of abuse. Staff have good understanding of procedures to follow in case they need to report their concerns to protect children from harm. They are familiar with wider safeguarding issues, such as domestic abuse.

They are fully aware of how to report their concerns to keep children safe. Staff ensure that their safeguarding knowledge is kept up to date by attending regular training.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review use of background music in group rooms to ensure that it does not interfere with children's concentration review personal care routines, such as nappy-changing times, so they do not disrupt children's enjoyment and engagement in learning activities.

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