Ark in the Park Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The setting is a friendly, warm and nurturing nursery. It is inviting for children to attend. Although the setting is currently in temporary accommodation, this has been adapted by the management to provide interesting and welcoming learning spaces for the children to feel comfortable and confident in. Healthy and nutritious lunches are provided by the on-site chef. Children enjoy chatting with their friends while eating, and the atmosphere is calm. Older children independently clear their food, plate and cutlery away after meals.

Staff support the children's emotional and mental well-being well. Children have strong relationships with the staff and other children in the nursery. They know how to be kind and help their friends. Behaviour is good.

The children have access to a well-equipped outdoor area where they can enjoy riding on tricycles and scooters. They explore balancing on planks and tyres, have plenty of tables and chairs to sit together outside, and a little house to play creatively. The nursery has two resident donkeys and two pigs, which the children enjoy talking and singing to. These animals also provide children with the opportunity to learn how to care for animals and how to feed them when they go to the enclosure one at a time, with staff.

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

• Relationships between staff and children are strong. Staff know the children and their needs well. Children are happy and confident in their learning and make good progress as a result.
• Managers have created strong and positive relationships with parents. Communication is strong, in person and online. Parents comment that the nursery gives children an excellent grounding to move easily into primary education.
• Managers plan an ambitious curriculum and share what they want the children to learn with the staff. Staff are well supported to plan the activities in the classrooms. Activities are often linked to the local environment and the children's interests. For example, children brought leaves in this week, which led to a leaf-painting activity in two of the rooms. Children engage in their work and develop creative skills and an understanding of nature.
• Children go on trips out to local places with staff, including the local park and supermarket. They learn about their local community and how to help others. For example, children recently visited the local park with the Decoy Rangers to plant trees and help tidy the park.
• Staff support children's independence well by providing self-serving drink areas, child-height coat hooks and opportunities to help prepare the play rooms for lunch and snack times. Older children receive effective guidance on self-dressing, which helps prepare them for school, as well as fostering their independence in doing things for themselves.
• The managers and staff have developed an effective focus on emotional well-being and mental health for the children. As a result, children are confident in speaking about their feelings and enjoy exploring emotions creatively, drawing what an angry or happy monster might look like, for example.
• The managers and staff have given effective support to children with delays in physical development, post Covid-19 lockdowns. They have extended the types of physical play and equipment available, for example buying more tricycles, ride-on toys and balls in the baby rooms. This focus has been successful.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Guidance is well planned, and staff are strongly supported by the nursery's SEND coordinator. Appropriate and timely referrals are made, and any additional funding is used effectively. For example, a sensorial tent has been bought to help children relax and manage their emotions.
• Managers have a good focus on staff learning and development. They are aware of weaknesses to leadership in the 'Big Baby Room' and have plans to change this. However, currently, staff are not receiving the support they need with regards to how they lead a room and its team. As a result, the room lacks direction, and children miss opportunities to develop new skills.
• Managers and staff have developed an environment which supports the children's language and communication skills. Staff use rich language, which extends the children's learning. All the rooms have a focus on reading and establishing a love of books in the children. Interactions between children and staff are positive, but at times staff in the 'Big Baby Room' do not consistently interact meaningfully with children. As a result, there are missed opportunities to extend learning further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more directed leadership in all rooms, particularly in the 'Big Baby Room', to develop staff skills further
• develop staff skills in the 'Big Baby Room' so that they engage in meaningful interactions more consistently with the children.