St Bernards Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

The extremely dedicated manager and staff are exceptionally committed to their roles and responsibilities. They use their vast knowledge and experience to create a rich and inspiring environment where all children flourish.

They have consistently high expectations for all children and have developed a curriculum based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. Exceptional partnerships with parents and other professionals involved in children's care ensure that all children, including those who need additional help, quickly receive the support they need to enable them to progress. Children are happy, settle...d and have incredible fun in the extremely well-resourced nursery.

The highly stimulating environment gives children a selection of valuable learning experiences which motivate them to be independent learners. Children show an extremely good attitude to learning. They concentrate, enjoy the activities and listen intently to the adults working with them.

Staff use every opportunity to skilfully extend activities and conversations to challenge children's thinking. As a result, children are confident in their abilities and eager to try new experiences. Children's behaviour is outstanding.

They display high levels of social skills and are considerate towards others. Staff act as extremely good role models and have high expectations for children's conduct. They build exceptionally strong relationships with children and set clear boundaries and rules.

Children show tremendously high levels of emotional well-being and self-confidence.

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

Staff are extremely nurturing and respond swiftly to children's individual care needs. For example, when children who have recently started attending the nursery become upset, they empathise with them and tell them they know how they feel.

They take them into a quiet area and talk to them about how they are feeling, while giving them reassuring cuddles. These positive interactions result in children quickly settling and they return to play alongside their friends.Children have an excellent understanding of why some behaviour rules are in place and the impact that their behaviour may have on others.

For instance, when they stack soft seats on top of one another and attempt to climb on these, staff stop them and asked them if this is a good idea. Children stop what they are doing and respond that it is not a good idea as they may hurt themselves or others.Staff are highly successful at giving children a rich set of experiences that promote an understanding of people beyond their own family and community.

For example, children regularly visit an older people's home and participate in arts and crafts, stories and songs. Children establish a positive attitude towards others and demonstrate high levels of confidence in social situations.Leaders focus exceptionally well on staff's ongoing professional development.

Staff regularly attend training courses to help develop their knowledge and skills. For example, several staff have attended speech and language training at level 3, which has enabled them to support children with speech and language delay more effectively.Staff place a significant focus on supporting children's communication and language skills.

Children with speech and language delays participate in small-group activities to help boost their listening, attention and speaking skills. Staff use highly effective teaching strategies, including modelling good language, repeating, recalling and questioning children to determine their level of understanding. This enables them to adapt their approach to meet the individual needs of children.

Subsequently, all children make significant progress in their learning.Partnerships with parents are strong. Leaders offer a vast range of initiatives to engage, support and build on parents' interest in their children's learning.

They regularly discuss children's progress with them and provide resources, including games and books, to encourage parents to support children's learning at home.Staff are dedicated to promoting children's health and well-being, and encourage them to be independent in meeting their care needs. For example, throughout the nursery there are tables with tissues, a mirror and antibacterial hand gel, to enable children to wipe their noses.

Children do this with confidence and understand that they must use the hand gel to prevent germs from spreading.Children show high levels of determination and develop resilience to setbacks when completing challenging tasks. For instance, when they have trouble as they stack heavy car tyres on top of each other, they adapt their approach and persevere until they have managed to stack them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The management team ensures that staff keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. Staff complete training and discuss safeguarding issues during staff meetings.

They have an excellent understanding of what to do if they have any concerns about children's welfare. They are familiar with the whistleblowing policy and procedures for reporting allegations. They have an exceptional understanding of the signs which may indicate that a child is at risk of harm.