ABC Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into the setting by friendly and engaging staff. Staff give children extra reassurance, when needed, to help them to settle. Children join in with the exciting range of activities on offer, indoors and outdoors. The enthusiastic staff work well together to plan the curriculum. For example, they develop children's awareness of climate change by teaching them the benefits of recycling and reducing the use of plastics. This helps children to acquire essential knowledge for their future lives.

Children have strong bonds with their key persons. They benefit from staff who are attuned to their needs and act as positive role models. This helps children to understand the high expectations for their behaviour. Children are kind and considerate of others and form good friendships with their peers. Older children enjoy playing a matching game and happily take turns to roll the dice. They congratulate each other when they match the colours and shapes. Babies and young children develop a sense of identity and belonging. Staff use mirrors with children. They use words to describe children's expressions, such as 'happy' and 'sad'. Children laugh and point to their noses and eyes as they look in the mirrors.

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

• Managers are committed and passionate, with a clear vision for the setting. They have a good knowledge and understanding of how children learn. Staff have a clear intent for what they want children to achieve. They complete ongoing assessments of children's achievements and the required progress check when children are aged between two and three years.
• Children enthusiastically play alongside staff, who extend their learning. For example, children explore making pancakes by mixing flour and pouring water. Staff support children in their thinking. They ask questions to find out what children already know and praise children for their efforts.
• Children are motivated and keen learners and enjoy activities that help to broaden their skills. For example, children become confident with technology, such as concentrating when they learn how to navigate a computer program. Children successfully use mathematical language during their play and solve problems, such as when they work out how to balance guttering to roll cars down outside.
• Children have good opportunities to learn about nature, growth and decay. For instance, they enjoy digging in the soil and use their senses to explore the vegetables they find. This helps to support children to find out about where their food comes from.
• Staff communicate with children in a range of ways to support all children to become confident communicators. For example, they use pictures and gestures, as well as spoken language, to help children to have a clear understanding. These strategies also support those children who speak English as an additional language to express their ideas.
• Staff consistently promote children's independence skills. Children confidently wipe their noses and put the tissues in the bin afterwards. They confidently change into indoor slippers when they come inside from the garden.
• Those children who receive additional funding, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are well supported. Managers use funding creatively to meet children's individual needs. Staff are skilled in identifying children's additional needs early. They then work effectively with a range of professionals to ensure that children make the best possible progress.
• Parents are positive about the setting and the staff. They comment that the staff take good care of the children and on the caring and professional team. Parents are informed of their children's experiences and learning through daily journals. In addition, they receive termly next steps reports, monthly newsletters and attend parent's meetings. However, some parents may benefit from extra support to fully understand what children need to learn next and how they can support their child's learning at home.
• Managers and the room leaders hold discussions with staff regarding their roles as part of their ongoing supervision. The manager has begun to improve staff supervision opportunities. For instance, she has begun more frequent staff observations to provide them with purposeful targets to work towards, to develop their already good practice further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the partnerships with parents further to help all parents understand how to support their child's individual learning at home
• focus opportunities for staff's professional development more sharply on providing staff with clear targets that will enable them to provide the highest level of education to children.