ABC Day Nursery (Melksham) Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly as they arrive. They confidently access a range of activities that staff have carefully planned. Babies smile and giggle as they take books to staff to read. Older children excitedly say, 'I've done it!' as they practise writing their name and proudly show staff their achievements. Staff respond using positive and encouraging language. They give children 'high fives' and celebrate children's efforts and successes. Relationships are warm and nurturing. These help children feel safe and secure.

Behaviour and attitudes are good. Children happily engage in a range of motivating activities that match their interests and focuses on their next steps. Children show high levels of concentration appropriate for their age for extended periods of time. Staff sensitively help children to follow the boundaries and routines of the setting. Children attentively listen to staff and use good manners. For example, young children ask, 'Can I have some more milk please?' Pre-school children follow instructions and hold hands with each other as they form a circle for whole-group sessions. They listen to each other and wait patiently for their turn. This helps to prepare them for school.

Staff encourage a love of books. They enthusiastically read familiar stories to children throughout the day and follow this up with activities that are related to the characters in the story. For instance, younger children say, 'I'm making four owls' as they use dough after listening to the 'Owl Babies' story. This helps to support children's early literacy development and builds their skills and knowledge in other areas of the curriculum.

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

• The management team has a clear vision of what it wants children to learn and how it wants staff to deliver the curriculum. Staff share this vision and successfully implement a balanced curriculum that is based on what children can already do and know and what they need to learn next. There is a clear focus on developing children's independence. For example, staff help and support younger children to wipe their own faces and hands after lunch. Older children do this for themselves and show pride as they do this without help.
• Staff have high expectations for all children. They know the children well and use assessment effectively to plan challenging learning opportunities across all areas of learning. Staff have a good knowledge of child development and understand when children are not making expected progress. They work with parents to focus on individual children's needs and use a range of appropriate strategies to support all children to make good progress from their starting points.
• Parents speak very positively about the support and care staff provide. They comment on staff being 'approachable' and 'always having time for them'. Parents appreciate the regular communication about what children are learning and what they need support with. These close relationships ensure that there is good continuity of learning between home and the nursery.
• Children have effective communication skills. They express themselves clearly and confidently. Staff ask appropriate questions, comment on children's play and model the pronunciation of difficult words. However, staff sometimes miss opportunities to introduce new vocabulary to fully extend children's speech and language development.
• The management team is supportive of staff. They have a secure understanding of their role and responsibilities and are keen for staff to keep their knowledge and practice up to date. The management team provides opportunities for staff to access new learning and further their qualifications. For instance, staff recently attended autism spectrum disorder training and have used this knowledge to implement new strategies to support children's sensory needs. This helps ensure that all children receive high-quality care and education.
• Staff skilfully encourage children to develop friendships with their peers. For example, staff play a ball rolling game with younger children to help them learn each other's names. Children beam as they hear their name being called and receive the ball from their friends. Older children chat with one another about what they are doing. They share toys and take turns without adult support. Building these relationships help support children's personal, social and emotional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that staff take all opportunities to introduce new vocabulary to fully extend children's language and communication skills.