Thorne Manor Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are wonderfully safe and secure in this exceptional nursery and pre-school.

They benefit from a wealth of rich opportunities to be physically active and develop a love of nature. For instance, younger children take regular walks in all weathers. They look for animals and collect objects of interest such as leaves and pine cones, which they explore intently during sensory play.

Older children engage in highly stimulating play experiences. For instance, they climb trees and swing from rope swings, challenging themselves as they confidently take risks and build resilience through well-supervised play activ...ities. Older children learn to use hand tools safely to make their own medallions.

They use flint and steel to make 'dragon sneeze' sparks in the forest school. Staff model high standards of behaviour as they speak politely to one another and the children. They greet each other warmly and value children's thoughts and ideas extremely well.

For instance, staff involve children in decision-making, skilfully capturing their voice as they set ground rules and talk about their favourite activities. As a result, children demonstrate exemplary behaviour. For example, younger children listen exceptionally well and follow instructions.

They hold hands as they walk to the indoor garden, giggling in delightful anticipation of feeding the fish in the pond.

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

Staff skilfully provide high-quality education and demonstrate superb teaching. For instance, they provide imaginative music and movement sessions and find ways to involve children so that they are able to be active in ways that interest them and develop their health and ability.

Staff make excellent use of planning and assessments to build on what children know and can do. As a result, children make rapid progress in their development.Staff plan activities that cover a broad range of the chosen curriculum, and children are eager and highly motivated to learn.

For example, older children delight as they play enjoyable action games to explore mathematical concepts. They enjoy pretending to be 'current buns in the baker shop', making great use of their imaginations. Children demonstrate high levels of concentration and engage superbly, responding politely to adults and taking care to listen to their friends respectfully.

Staff provide wonderful opportunities to support children's social and emotional development. Great consideration is given to allocating key persons. Staff ensure that younger children benefit from highly consistent teaching and emotional support.

As a result, parents are highly complimentary and comment that the nursery is 'exceptional'. They appreciate the reassuring and supportive approach and describe how staff go out of their way to accommodate their needs.Children are provided with a rich set of experiences.

They observe photographs and find themselves, laughing in delight as they recount previous activities. They relish the opportunities provided by staff to practise speaking and listening wonderfully well in a variety of ways. Older children speak with confidence as they share their interests during engaging circle times.

Staff enhance routine activities, such as self-registration, to help children consider how they are feeling and why. This helps to teach children the language of feelings.Parents engage exceptionally well with well-planned home learning experiences.

For instance, staff create story suitcases for children to take home. These thoughtfully contain children's favourite books, soft toys and hot chocolate, and help to foster a love of reading across all age groups. Parents greatly appreciate the opportunity to spend quality time reading to their child at home.

As a result, children benefit from consistent and highly nurturing experiences which they share between home and nursery.Leaders and managers are highly reflective and ambitious for the nursery. They continually seek ways to develop the provision in order to maximise opportunities for children's learning and development.

Staff are experienced and well qualified and demonstrate a well-established bond. The manager values the team highly and draws upon their strengths in order to make outstanding progress.Staff report that they feel happy and extremely well supported in their roles.

They comment that the manager is a 'blessing', helping to steer the nursery in a new direction. Planned improvements are made in collaboration, based on the needs of the children, for example introducing enhancements to the curriculum and developing a new playground.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Children's safety and well-being are given paramount importance. Safeguarding procedures are robust. Staff understand their responsibility to safeguard children and know how to report their concerns.

Staff receive high-quality training opportunities to help keep their knowledge of safeguarding and wider child protection issues up to date. Leaders and managers demonstrate exceptional commitment to ensuring that high standards of safety and well-being are monitored and maintained overtime. For instance, they invest in an accreditation programme to help them ensure that the whole team is well equipped to deal with an emergency.