Farley Salisbury Outdoor Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are exceptionally motivated and keen to try new activities and learn new skills.

The highly skilled staff deliver a rich and varied curriculum that very much takes into account the individual needs of the children and is tailored to meet these. Children thoroughly enjoy counting down and jumping on the launch pad and get excited as their rocket launches into the sky. Babies and toddlers engage well in role play with pretend babies and tea sets.

Children show high levels of engagement and fascination as they mix bicarbonate of soda and vinegar to make lava come out of the top of a volcano they have built.... Staff suggest different ways of extending this activity by adding food colouring, mud and grass, and children are keen to watch what happens.All staff clearly enjoy their jobs and are highly skilled at knowing when to join in and when to stand back and let the children develop their ideas.

As a result, children show high levels of confidence and a real can-do attitude to their learning. Children thrive and make exceptionally good progress in all areas of their learning and are very well prepared for the next stage in their learning or the move to school.Staff have very high expectations for the children, which they respond to extremely well.

Children are exceptionally tolerant and respectful of others. They recognise when their friends need help or support and willingly offer this.

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

Leaders have very high expectations of staff and they are not disappointed.

Staff deliver consistently high levels of provision and meet children's welfare needs exceptionally well. Leaders provide excellent support to make sure staff well-being is paramount. They offer counselling, and the opportunity for staff to use the owners' facilities to relax and recharge.

Staff report that they feel exceptionally well supported and have excellent opportunities to continue their professional development through training, individual meetings and staff meetings.Parents state that the relationships staff build are exceptional. They are amazed by the progress their children make and the staff commitment to their children's learning.

Parents report that the staff keep them fully informed of their children's next steps in their learning and how they can support them at home. Parents value the exceptional facilities that their children are able to use on a daily basis.Children's physical development is extremely well supported.

Children are encouraged to make their own structures to climb over, balance and slide. They take great pride in their constructions and thoroughly enjoy mastering new skills. For example, toddlers learn how to master an A-frame, climbing up one side, manoeuvring over the top and down the other side.

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their numeracy and literacy skills in the outdoor environment. Highly enthusiastic staff make activities stimulating and fun. Staff and children take their boots and socks off and act out familiar stories, walking through mud, long grass and a pretend river.

Children enthusiastically tell staff what is coming next in the story. Babies and toddlers enjoy playing with the puppets as the staff tell the story, increasing their enjoyment. Mathematics is incorporated into all activities, to increase children's understanding of numbers and groups of objects that match and use of mathematical language in everyday play.

Staff are particularly skilled at settling children and involving them in purposeful play. Children quickly gain a sense of belonging because staff build secure relationships with them and their families. Staff talk with confidence about the children and their families.

Older children thoroughly enjoyed coming back as Rangers in the holidays.There are very effective methods to observe and assess children's progress and involve parents in planning the next stage in children's learning. As a result, children thrive and make excellent progress in all areas of their learning.

The key-person system is particularly effective and staff know their individual key children exceptionally well. This means the plans are tailored to the children's individual needs and what they need to learn next.Staff use spontaneous learning moments exceptionally well.

For example, during a volcano activity, a child notices a dinosaur. The member of staff recognises that they do not know the name of the dinosaur. She immediately finds printed sheets with different dinosaurs and their names and encourages the child to talk about specific features of the dinosaur, such as the spikes on their back and the hammer-shaped tail.

Children throughout the nursery are very happy and confident, and enjoy their time in the setting.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and managers place an exceptionally high emphasis on safeguarding and keeping children safe in the environment.

All staff complete safeguarding training as part of their induction and this is regularly updated through in-house training, staff meetings and staff supervision. There are highly effective policies and procedures in place to ensure that any concerns with regard to a child's welfare are dealt with swiftly and appropriately. Highly skilled staff undertake regular risk assessments of the environment and the activities that children take part in to make sure they are safe, and children are learning how to keep themselves safe.