University of West Cambridge Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children thrive in this extremely welcoming and nurturing nursery. Parents and children are very warmly welcomed by the attentive staff and children separate from their adults with ease. Staff have very high expectations for all children and ensure that they benefit from a safe, highly exciting and inspiring environment.

Children have access to an extensive range of high-quality natural and real-life resources that link to their interests and individual stages of development. For example, children are taught to use real hammers to break open toy dinosaur eggs and predict what might be inside. Babies form close bonds with... calm and attentive staff.

They enjoy the frequent cuddles and comfort, which helps them to feel safe and to explore the activities with confidence. Older children are extremely well supported and make rapid progress in readiness for their subsequent move to school. All children are highly motivated and eager to learn.

Children demonstrate exceptional behaviour and social skills. They play together for long periods of time, taking turns and sharing resources. They listen attentively to staff and consistently show respect and help other children.

As a result, there is a happy and harmonious atmosphere throughout the nursery.

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

The manager is passionate about her role and has a clear and ambitious vision for the setting. She is fully invested in supporting and encouraging every individual, both professionally and personally.

As a result, staff morale is high. Practitioners' workloads are managed effectively and the management team ensures that staff's well-being is given the highest priority. Everyone engages in training and research to boost their skills and knowledge.

Staff are dedicated and keen to use their expertise to make the most of every opportunity to enhance the provision for children.Children are encouraged to be increasingly independent. There are many opportunities for them to make choices in their play and to take care of their own needs.

At mealtimes and snack times, children lay the tables, serve their own food, pour their own drinks and cut up their own fruit.There are many opportunities provided to enrich children's communication and language skills. Children are encouraged to talk about what they are doing and staff ask thought-provoking questions.

Staff repeat simple words for younger children and introduce more-challenging vocabulary to older children. As a result, children are confident speakers. Children who are learning English as an additional language are very well supported and make rapid progress in their communication skills.

Practitioners nurture a love of reading in children. They use books, songs and props to ignite children's interest in stories. As a result, children delight in listening to and retelling their favourite stories with adults.

For example, children enjoy the story about going on a bear hunt. They confidently recite the story and decide whether to go over, under or through the obstacles. They squeal with delight when they find the bear in the cave.

Staff are very talented at encouraging children to solve problems and apply critical thinking. Children are inquisitive and enjoy experimentation. They are enthusiastic to test out different ways to use the resources.

For example, older children discover how to mix their own dough, while babies squeeze pea pods and find out what is inside. This approach helps children to take ownership of and develop a positive attitude to learning.Partnerships with parents are extremely strong.

Parents report that staff are incredibly caring, professional and supportive. Staff work extremely hard to support and liaise with parents. For example, the setting has introduced baby massage sessions at lunchtimes so parents can enjoy bonding time with their child.

As a result, children's needs are exceptionally well met and routines are carefully matched to mirror those at home. There are well-established systems in place to help children when they are ready to move through to the next room and on to school. Parents comment that their child settled extremely well at school because they had already practised the routines at the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have an excellent understanding of safeguarding procedures and complete regular safeguarding training. This ensures they understand their responsibilities to report concerns about a child's welfare or any inappropriate actions of adults working with children.

All staff implement robust and effective procedures and place a strong emphasis on ensuring children are cared for in a safe environment. This includes an extremely comprehensive recruitment and induction process. This ensures staff are suitable and have the necessary skills to fulfil their roles in the setting.