Apple Tree Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), enjoy their learning in this warm, vibrant and friendly nursery.

They make good progress overall in all aspects of their development. Staff prepare children well for the next stage in their learning. This includes systematically developing the skills and knowledge children need for starting school.

For example, three-year-old children learn to increasingly control their physical dexterity skills and knowledge of colour as they produce collage pictures involving weaving and sticking paper strips inspired by a favourite story about a sca...recrow. Children are safe and secure. They rise to staff's high expectations and are very well behaved.

Children, including those who find it difficult to manage their emotions, build strong relationships with the positive and friendly staff and learn to play alongside others. Staff skilfully help children to build their confidence and independence. Children learn how to take care of themselves and live healthily.

For example, they regularly spend time outside engaged in physical activities and learn how to wash their hands and keep their teeth clean. Parents appreciate staff's friendly and purposeful nature and the confidence and independence their children achieve.

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

Staff plan well overall to help children to build sequentially on their previous learning.

They use babies' and children's interests well as a foundation to build on their learning. However, staff do not consistently fully deepen and extend children's development through all their play. For example, they do not consistently vary the questions they ask children or show them further ways to acquire and use new skills.

Staff encourage children to develop a love of books. They introduce children to a breadth of fiction and non-fiction books and a wide range of songs and nursery rhymes that develop their language skills and knowledge of the world. For instance, babies learn to turn pages and feel different sensory material in the books they love.

Older children remember the characters in their favourite stories and understand their relationships and emotions.Staff prioritise the development of children's communication skills. They make good use of well-chosen songs and rhymes to engage children in listening to and learning new words and phrases.

Staff support early talkers to develop keywords to build simple phrases, such as 'ready, steady, go' and 'one, two, three', as they climb and jump in their physical play.Staff strongly support children with SEND and many who may be vulnerable and need further support. They identify gaps in children's learning at an early stage and work very closely with parents, carers and other professionals, such as social workers, speech and language therapists and social care, to address them.

Staff are good role models and help children to be courteous and behave well. Children learn to say 'please' and 'thank you' as they play and learn. Staff build very good relationships with children and their parents.

They follow simple routines for babies' sleep patterns and older children's toilet training to help them to feel calm, relaxed and confident during the nursery day.The experienced leadership is ambitious to ensure that children leave the nursery as happy, inquisitive and keen learners. This is embedded in the curriculum structure.

Leaders regularly review practice through, for instance, the views of parents, children and other early years professionals to strengthen staff's training and enrich the curriculum.Staff promote children's personal development, health and well-being well. They develop children's decision-making skills and sense of fairness.

For example, staff encourage children to tidy away as they go along and sort and organise their own activities. Children learn to be independent and to work well together as they play.Parents strongly recommend the nursery.

They appreciate staff's commitment to making their children's lives happy and stimulated. Parents comment on how well prepared their children are for starting school. Staff provide very regular and detailed information on children's progress in ways that are clear and helpful.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen staff's planning and interactions with children to ensure that all opportunities are taken to extend and deepen children's learning.