Allexton Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are eager to start their learning as soon as they arrive at the nursery. They rush in excitedly to see what new objects of interest have been left in the reception area. Children are curious to explore the old typewriter that staff have added to promote discussion. Children are happy and engage confidently with staff, who know them well. They have formed strong attachments with their key person. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Children show kindness towards each other and they behave well. All children receive good levels of support and reassurance from the staff. This has a positive effect on children's confidence, behaviour and emotional well-being.

Children take part in a wide range of activities to encourage their physical development and strengthen their muscles, such as play dough disco, squeezing oranges to make juice and using pipettes to transfer liquid. Staff are highly skilled in planning a challenging curriculum for each child to support their individual needs. Babies love listening to stories. They show excitement when their favourite part is read, and they cover their eyes in anticipation, ready for peekaboo. They laugh and giggle and repeat the action again and again, asking for 'more' at the end. Pre-school children use books as a reference. They search for their favourite dinosaurs and use vocabulary such as 'mammoth', 'herbivore' and 'carnivore'.

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

• Staff work in partnerships with parents and a wide range of other professionals to promote children's learning and development. Parents take part in weekly 'cook and eat' sessions with their children where they learn about nutrition and portion size. They comment that this has improved their child's eating habits and helps the children to understand how to develop healthy lifestyles.
• During the initial COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, staff remained in contact with parents through daily calls to offer support and advice. They provided activity ideas and food parcels. This helped to support children's learning and well-being. When the nursery reopened, staff noted some delay in children's development. Staff have focused on helping children to catch up in their communication, self-care and social skills to reduce the risk of any long-term developmental delay. Children make good progress in readiness for their next stage in learning. They become confident and eager to learn.
• Leaders have high expectations for the children. The curriculum they provide helps children to develop the skills they need for starting school. Staff help to broaden children's knowledge of the world around them and provide active experiences, such as taking the children into the local community. Additional funding is used for various trips, such as to the zoo, farm and seaside, to offer some children experiences they would not usually be able to access.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may need extra help in their learning and development are exceptionally well supported. There is strong support for children who speak English as an additional language. Staff use facial expressions, signs and symbols and key words in the child's home language to enhance their communication.
• Staff provide a welcoming environment with a wide range of experiences for children. During activities, staff engage with the children and help them to learn new skills, such as cutting with scissors. However, occasionally, staff do not make the best use of spontaneous opportunities to extend children's learning. For example, when cutting flower stems and picking petals with tweezers, staff do not provide children with information to further enhance their knowledge about flowers.
• Staff report high levels of well-being and feel very well supported. They are encouraged to share their views and ideas of the provision offered. Staff receive regular training and attend meetings to further develop their knowledge and skills. As a result, the provision is continually improving to ensure the very best outcomes for children.
• Staff support children's independence skills well. They provide plenty of opportunities for children to develop the skills they need to move on to their next stage of learning. For example, children put on their coats and shoes for outdoor play. Staff show children how to zip up their coats and praise them for having a go themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to make the most of spontaneous opportunities to further challenge the children's thinking skills.