Abc at Atherton's Children Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are safe and happy at this lovely nursery. They form very strong bonds with the staff and each other. Children behave well. They understand the importance of sharing, turn-taking and friendly behaviour. Children remind their friends of the golden rules, such as 'kind hands' when they are a little boisterous. Staff model lovely manners and respectful behaviour, which children instinctively copy. Children are learning about what is expected of them and how to conduct themselves appropriately. These are important qualities needed for their later life.

There is a strong focus on communication and language development at the nursery. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve. For instance, young children hear new words, such as 'gigantic' and 'squash', and include these in their independent play with support from staff. Staff extend children's sentences by adding descriptive words to broaden their vocabulary. Children are very confident communicators, particularly pre-school children. They hold lengthy back- and-forth conversations about their home lives, family members and things they enjoy doing at nursery. Children gain a lot of skills and knowledge needed for the next stage in their development.

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

• The provider has fulfilled their legal obligation to notify Ofsted of a significant incident relating to safeguarding practice at the nursery. Leaders and staff have taken prompt and robust action to ensure that children are not at risk of a repeat incident. Staff have received a wealth of further training and support to embed their understanding of the nursery policy and procedures.
• The manager has a clear understanding of what she wants children to learn. She plans a curriculum that is based on children's interests and adapted to meet their unique needs. Robust procedures for monitoring children's development help staff to swiftly identify and address any gaps in learning. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Support for children with SEND and those in receipt of additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, is very good. The special educational needs and disability coordinator is knowledgeable and proactive. She implements strategies to support children with SEND while they await referrals to outside professionals. Additional funding is used wisely to benefit the child it is allocated to. This stops children from falling further behind and helps to narrow the gap between them and their peers.
• Overall, children show good engagement levels and are motivated to learn, particularly in activities of their own choosing. For instance, younger children concentrate intently for long periods when practising filling, emptying and pouring in the water play. However, there are some occasions when quieter, less-confident children are overlooked by staff. This means they are not consistently supported to engage in play and learning.
• Children have a good understanding of the daily routine. They listen carefully for the bell after outdoor play and know they need to wash their hands and sit down for lunch. Children take it in turns to complete tasks, such as helping to set the table. This familiarity and consistency helps children to feel secure and promotes their emotional well-being.
• Overall, children are beginning to learn about what constitutes a healthy lifestyle. Staff provide healthy meals and snacks and plenty of drinking water. Children access the outdoor area to get fresh air and exercise their large muscles on the bicycles and scooters. Staff support children to wash their hands at appropriate times throughout the day and discuss the need to remove germs. However, not all staff consistently wash their own hands after wiping children's noses. This does not help to reduce the spread of infection and hinders children's good health.
• The manager has recently implemented more stringent procedures for supervising and monitoring staff performance. She spends time in the playrooms supporting and observing staff to help extend their skills and knowledge further. However, the feedback she gives to staff is not consistently focused on improving their individual teaching skills. For instance, on some occasions, staff are not fully sure of what children already know during activities and therefore pitch them incorrectly. Consequently, there are some minor weaknesses in the quality of education.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to engage quieter children in play and learning more consistently
• strengthen the procedures for hygiene practices, such as handwashing after wiping children's noses
• focus the feedback staff receive more sharply on their individual practice to raise the quality of education to a higher level.