Smarties Nature Kindergarten

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

All staff have exceptionally high expectations for all children in their care.

Following training, staff caring for babies have implemented 'baby yoga'. Babies have great fun as they practise their 'downward dog' yoga moves. This, and staff's consistently high level of engagement with babies, significantly promotes their physical development, emotional health and well-being.

Staff caring for the two-year-old children provide inspiring activities that motivate children to explore and find out about the world during outdoor play. For example, staff provide a running commentary as two-year-old children use tools to... dig out toys from the ice block. Staff encourage the children to 'keep trying' and to 'have another go', which actively motivates them to achieve what they set out to do.

The children demonstrate their pride as they show one another and the staff their 'prize'. This fosters children's confidence, determination and perseverance as they engage in challenging activities.Staff caring for the older pre-school children provide highly innovative activities to promote all areas of their learning and development.

For instance, during forest school sessions, older children demonstrate great excitement as they find hidden items around trees and under logs and stones. Staff use an excellent range of questioning techniques that encourage older children to solve problems, compare findings, count, and identify what is missing. Older children trample through the muddy puddles to find insects and worms.

They look on with awe and wonder and become highly excited as they come across six toads wallowing in the mud. Staff talk to children about their findings and encourage them to put the toads back in the mud as this is their home. This, and caring for the nursery's goats and pigs, actively enhances children's empathy for living things.

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

The provider and managers work extremely closely with all staff. They are inspirational and share their ambitious vision for the nursery with every member of staff. The curriculum is clearly understood by staff, and they implement it exceptionally well.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make excellent progress. The provider has a superior knowledge of the needs and priorities of the local areas to meet children's individual needs. She ensures that additional funding for children is used extremely well so that they are ready for the next step in their learning, including their move on to school.

The provider is highly committed to continuous improvement. All managers, staff, other professionals, parents and their children are fully included in the self-evaluation processes of the nursery. The provider uses this information with precision, to ensure all children continue to receive outstanding care and education.

Managers provide staff with exceptional supervision opportunities. All staff receive regular one-to-one meetings that provide them with excellent opportunities to discuss their practice and their training needs. Managers also ensure that staff can discuss, in confidence, their work and home-life balance.

They are consistently available to staff should they have any concerns about the staff they work with or their key children. This promotes staff's confidence in all that they do.All staff are conscientious about continuing to develop their skills and knowledge through face-to-face and online training.

For instance, following training, staff focus on older children's language, communication and literacy skills. They organise the day so that it is similar to the school day that the children will soon be experiencing. Children are extremely well supported as they focus on developing their love of books and their reading and writing.

They demonstrate their increasing knowledge of mathematical concepts and show excellent communication skills as they put their hands up to take turns in talking and listening.Partnerships with parents are excellent. Staff find out what children already know and can do from the outset and tailor activities to help children settle in quickly and become ready to learn.

They consistently share children's next steps in development with their parents, and implement excellent strategies to aid parents in continuing their children's learning at home. For example, parents meet regularly with their child's key person, and they are provided with information from staff training that will help them to have a clear understanding of how their child progresses. Parents make excellent use of the nursery's lending library.

Staff's relationships with teachers at the local schools significantly enhance children's confidence about starting school. For example, teachers come into the nursery to spend time with the children before they move up. Staff provide a range of opportunities for children to talk about what school life may be like.

They focus on all the positives such as making new friends and learning new ways of doing things.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a robust knowledge of the policy and procedure to be followed to protect children.

They know what to do and who to contact should they have a concern about a member of staff or the welfare of a child. Staff discuss child protection issues during team meetings and undertake online training in the wider aspects of safeguarding children. They are deployed well to ensure children are kept safe while taking manageable risks in their play.

All staff implement robust risk assessments. They all keep their paediatric first-aid training updated. Children's safety and well-being are the highest priority at the nursery.