Willow Tree Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff offer children a warm reception to nursery and value their contributions during play and discussions.

This helps to build on children's feelings of self-worth. Children benefit from secure attachments with their key person. They show that they are happy, content and feel safe in the nursery environment.

This is evident as children keenly welcome new visitors to the setting, such as the inspector. Children excitedly invite the inspector to join in with their play and are eager to talk about the chicks that have come to visit the nursery. Even following children's lively interactions, they show superb ability to li...sten and follow the rules.

Pre-school children proudly stand in line to go outside following instructions from staff. Staff show high expectations of children. For example, they encourage babies to feed themselves.

Babies do this very well, showing excellent coordination with their spoons.Children are provided with rich learning experiences in the nursery and through planned outings. These experiences support children in developing important skills that, due to COVID-19 (coronavirus), they have had limited opportunities to expand upon.

For example, children have thoroughly enjoyed learning about caring for their new nursery pets, which has encouraged lots of new vocabulary in great support of their communication and language skills.

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

Partnership working is a particular strength. Parents are widely encouraged to participate in their children's learning.

Staff recognise that this is especially important in light of the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, staff send daily photographs and videos and share specific information on how parents can support their children's learning at home. Parents feel involved and give many examples of the progress their children have made.

Leaders and managers have a good understanding of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the children and families. This information is used to build a well-informed curriculum. For example, staff place priority on older children's school readiness, ensuring that they have the skills necessary for the next stage of their learning.

Effective implementation of the curriculum intent has had a significant impact on the personal, social and emotional development of the youngest children and those leaving their main carers for the first time. The result of staff's consistent building on babies' secure attachments is evident. Babies are entirely at ease.

They are settled and eager to explore. This provides excellent foundations for children's confidence and ability to learn.Despite the clear vision and strong curriculum intent of the leaders, this is not always well understood and implemented by all staff.

This is particularly evident during children's time outdoors, where play is less purposeful and staff are not as confident in planning for children's individual learning needs.Staff know their key children very well. Overall, planning is highly effective in supporting children to reach development goals and learn new skills.

Staff understand how to seize opportunities, as they arise, to build on what children already know. For example, as children say numbers they know, staff use building blocks as a visual aid to encourage children to count in sequence.Leaders ensure that professional development opportunities are linked to self-evaluation and some identified gaps in staff's knowledge.

Most training is well targeted to ensure the maximum impact on outcomes for children.Systems of performance management do not provide the manager with in-depth evaluations of all areas of teaching in order to raise the quality to the very highest levels.Staff are proactive in implementing additional support for those children who are at risk of falling behind.

Leaders and staff work closely with involved professionals of those children attending with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, the needs of all children are well considered and met.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff are knowledgeable about child protection matters. They receive regular training and leaders ensure that important messages have been understood as they monitor staff's understanding. This helps to ensure that gaps in knowledge are identified and addressed.

Leaders create a culture of openness and empowerment among the staff team. Staff fully understand and are confident to raise concerns regarding a colleagues' behaviour should they need to. Leaders have good oversight of safeguarding issues.

They know how to work with other professionals to help to keep children in their care safe. The setting is safe and secure and procedures are in place to ensure that children are only released to authorised individuals.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: build on current systems of performance management to fully consider all aspects of teaching support staff to better understand and implement the curriculum intent, particularly when using the outdoor environment.