Aplomb Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy in this warm and nurturing setting. They benefit from being cared for by the kind and caring manager and staff. Staff carefully consider how to support children to develop their self-esteem and confidence. They give children many opportunities to help with daily routines throughout the day. For example, children help to prepare the sleep area and help to get the eating area ready for mealtimes. This gives children a sense of responsibility and feeling of pride.

The manager has planned a well-sequenced programme of learning. Staff have high expectations of what the children can achieve. They carefully plan learning opportunities to help children make good progress in all areas of the curriculum. For example, children develop their strength and hand-eye coordination as they make mud pies in the garden. They explore the characteristics of different animals as they play with them in the sand.

Children respond very well to the calm, engaging tones which staff use to communicate with them. Staff clearly explain behaviour expectations and support children well to understand them by getting down to the children's level. They talk to them about the impact that their actions have on others. Staff support children to express themselves and children begin to learn to resolve conflicts themselves. For example, staff help children to say, 'I am playing with that,' if another child takes a toy they are using. This helps children to learn to build positive relationships with their peers.

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

• The manager ensures that the curriculum for communication and language helps every child to make good progress in their language development. Staff consistently get down to children's levels and talk to them about what they are doing. Staff respond well to what children are saying and lead high-quality, two-way interactions in which they give children plenty of time to express themselves. Staff use interesting and varied vocabulary to support children to develop their range of language. For example, staff explain to children that they will 'investigate' what is under the paving stone. Children then begin to use this new language in their play, and explain that they are 'investigating' to their friends as they look for worms.
• Staff have a clear understanding of what children should learn in their personal, social and emotional development. They discuss children's emotions with them throughout the day and use stories and puppets to help children name different feelings. This helps children to understand and communicate their emotions. Staff support children to develop important social skills, such as sharing and taking turns. For example, they explain clearly to children that it is their friend's turn first and then it will be their turn. Developing important social skills such as these helps children to form friendships.
• Staff support children to make good progress in their mathematical development. They integrate counting into games throughout the day. For example, as children play a game of hiding animals, other children count together before they go and find the animals. Staff use mathematical language as they play with children. They discuss how containers are half full or half empty, and support children to use this language. Staff help children to learn positional vocabulary, such as 'underneath', 'on top' or 'behind', as they discuss where the animals are hiding. This supports children to begin to understand early mathematical concepts.
• Staff give children many opportunities to develop their self-care and independence skills. Babies use their cutlery to eat their lunch and get their own tissue when needed. Older children self-serve their lunch, pour their water, and change their shoes themselves. This helps children to prepare for the next stage of their learning, such as school.
• Staff build strong relationships with their key children. They have a good understanding of the progress children have made and what their next steps are in their individual learning journey. Staff carefully plan learning opportunities to support these next steps. This helps children to make good progress.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They work closely with external professionals to ensure that every child receives the support they need. Staff use strategies recommended by these professionals to help children with SEND to make progress. This means that every child makes progress on their individual learning journey.
• The manager is passionate about ensuring that every child is supported to grow and develop within the setting. She supports staff to improve their practice well. The manager makes sure that she is working with the children for the majority of time and uses this as a way to model good practice and offer regular feedback to staff. In addition, staff attend regular training online and with the local authority. The manager identifies this, based on the needs of the children who attend the setting. This leads to good outcomes for children.
• The manager and staff build strong partnerships with parents. They communicate well about the progress that children are making at the setting, electronically and verbally. Staff regularly seek the views of parents and use these to support the children where relevant. For example, parents share ideas of places to visit within the local area, and staff then arrange these visits.
• On occasion, staff do not carefully consider the needs of the children during routines before mealtimes. For example, some children sit at the table and wait too long for their lunch without staff engaging them in learning opportunities. At this time, this does not support all children in their learning and development. The manager has ideas about how to make this time a more positive experience for the children. However, at the time of the inspection, she had not yet implemented these.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how to improve routines before mealtimes, so that these are a high-quality experience for children.