Nest In The Woods Adlington

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The manager has successfully developed her setting as an outdoor provision. Children succeed in their learning in this unique woodland setting. They develop a thrill for learning new and meaningful knowledge from the expert staff.

For instance, staff help children skilfully to learn how to tie hitch knots, make a hammock swing and identify woodland creatures correctly. Staff support children ably to develop their confidence. For instance, children experiment with climbing the slope of a hill aided by a rope.

Children quickly become experts at these tasks. They relish opportunities to show visitors, such as the inspecto...r, their well-developed skills and knowledge. Children learn well.

Staff spend time getting to know each child's abilities, needs and interests. They build trusting relationships with children and their families from the start. This helps children to settle, feel safe and be ready to learn.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and children understand how their actions impact others. Staff are particularly effective at helping children to manage their own behaviour. They explain to children sensitively why some behaviours are not acceptable.

Children are happy and sensible.

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

The manager has established ambitious aims for her curriculum to help children to learn well in her woodland setting. For instance, she seeks to inspire children's questions and curiosity about the natural environment.

As a result, children become inquisitive explorers, keen to try new and challenging tasks and wanting to learn new information.The manager has identified the broad areas of knowledge that children will develop through her curriculum. However, in some areas of learning, she has not pinpointed the essential knowledge that children will learn.

She has also not thought enough about the order in which children will learn some important concepts. This means that some of children's learning does not always build well on their previous knowledge.The children talk with staff in back-and-forth discussions about their many play ideas, interests and woodland discoveries.

The manager and staff support children's language skills well. They model the use of new and interesting words in meaningful ways. For example, when eating apples, children learn new words such as 'stalk' and 'calyx'.

Children develop the vocabulary that they need to be able to talk with accuracy about their learning. They become confident talkers.Staff are particularly skilful at helping children to think and consider ideas carefully.

For example, staff use open-ended questions to provoke children to think about their answers and to test out their own theories. Children learn how to solve problems, such as how high to tie the hammock to the trees to ensure that it swings.Children learn from the expert staff about how to live a healthy life.

They learn that vegetables and fruits are important to eat and that it is essential to be physically active. Children understand that cleaning their hands before eating their packed lunch is important.Mostly, staff support children to develop their independence skills successfully.

However, on occasions, staff do not always support children to learn the importance of self-care and taking responsibility for their own tasks. For example, staff do not always give children the opportunity to have a go for themselves before providing support with tasks such as pouring milk, giving out cups or slicing apples.Parents said that they share the manager's passion for children's outdoor learning.

They welcome hearing about their children's learning from the knowledgeable staff. The regular information that staff provide for parents about their children's learning helps them to support their children at home.The manager supports staff well.

She coaches staff regularly to help refine the quality of their work with the children. Staff thoroughly enjoy working at the setting. However, the manager has not given enough consideration to staff training.

This means, for example, that staff's knowledge about some areas of learning is not as well developed as for other areas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager deploys staff effectively in the woodland areas of this outdoor setting to ensure that children are supervised well.

She ensures that all staff attend training about safeguarding. Staff know the possible signs that may indicate a child is experiencing neglect or abuse. They are knowledgeable about the action they must take to protect a child from harm.

The manager and staff help children to notice risks and think about how to act, such as waiting until the busy slide is clear before whizzing down. Children learn how to act safely.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen staff knowledge of how to develop children's independence skills so that children acquire more self-confidence and responsibility nincrease opportunities for staff to learn about the different areas of learning so their knowledge is enhanced and always up to date nidentify more clearly the essential knowledge that children will learn and the order in which they will learn it.

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