Ashbourne Day Nurseries At Central Milton Keynes

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children celebrate difference and learn tolerance and respect in this multicultural city centre nursery where managers, staff and parents work hard to raise standards and improve lives.

Children are happy and safe in a secure environment. They enjoy small-parts play with lots of natural materials and this supports their creative and imaginative skills effectively. To a child, for example, a stick can be an aeroplane or part of a model. Children choose to use pine cones for counting or print with them in paint. Pre-school children particularly enjoy mixing their own play dough and using it in their role play games. Older children eagerly anticipate the regular phonics sessions and actively take part in stressing the 'sound of the week' as they repeat 'The baby baboon eats a banana'.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and treatment of each other. They encourage all children to learn and use good manners. Children are well behaved and engaged in their learning. They are welcoming of visitors and involve them in their games. For example, toddlers present cups of 'tea potion' to their 'guests'.

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

• Throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, parents have not been allowed into the building. However, this has had an unexpected positive benefit, in that sessions start promptly and more time is available for learning. Parents say that they do not mind because they receive dedicated, quality feedback from staff at handover when they come to collect their child.
• The manager takes responsibility for the quality of care and education. She brings out the best in her staff team through the creation of a positive working environment. The manager acts with integrity to ensure that all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make the most of their access to early education.
• Children enjoy activities based on what they know and can do because staff fully understand how to follow children's interests. For example, young children explore the contents of teabags, mix the leaves with water and refine their physical skills as they pour their potions into teapots. However, staff are not yet able to confidently explain how children's learning is sequenced as part of a coherent approach to planning.
• Children enjoy a calm and well-organised environment. Staff are good role models and know how to manage any difficult behaviours in young children. Children have very good relationships with staff. For example, two children were so delighted to see the deputy manager that they ran to hug her.
• Staff find out lots of information about children's home lives before they start at the nursery. They know which children speak other languages at home and those who live in homes without gardens. Staff take account of this information when planning activities for children.
• After a period of change, the manager and her newly established staff team have made it a priority to foster very positive partnerships with parents. Senior management regularly seeks the views of parents to check the quality of the provision. The increasingly high scores on parental surveys demonstrate that the substantial improvements to the nursery environment and the hard work of staff are having a positive impact on the quality of provision for children. Parents comment that they really like the introduction of the electronic nursery management program which helps to keep them in touch with daily events and the routines of their children.
• Effective partnership working means children consistently make good progress across all areas of development. Staff quickly and accurately identify gaps in children's learning and put support in place as quickly as possible. Children who need additional help with speech and language, and those with SEND, make good progress in their development. Staff work closely with parents and professionals to provide a consistent approach to understand children's needs and how best to support them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to plan the sequencing of children's learning, to offer the highest levels of challenge.