Ashbourne Day Nurseries at Upton Meadows

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children confidently separate from parents when they arrive. They are greeted warmly by staff and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. Children are keen to explore and investigate the range of toys offered indoors and outdoors. They show good hand-to-eye coordination and solve problems when they use construction toys. Children fix pieces together and tell staff that they are making a tower. Children thoroughly enjoy playing outside. They laugh with their friends when they play chasing games, safely negotiating the space available. Children take turns to catch their friends and behave well. Older school-age children say that they enjoy playing in the nursery before they start their day at school. They tell visitors that they like to play with their friends and the toy cars outside.

Staff know the children well and plan experiences to extend their learning. Children are encouraged to think and respond when staff ask them questions. They are keen to share their thoughts and ideas with staff and other children. For example, staff encourage children to guess what is in their bag. They describe the objects, for example it has eight legs and lives on a web; children guess it is a spider. Children are supported to extend their understanding of shapes and numbers. For example, when children fill containers with water, they learn that the container is a hexagon shape, and it has five sides.

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

• The manager and staff plan a curriculum that supports the needs of the children who attend. There is a strong focus on promoting oral hygiene. The manager uses additional funding for some children to provide resources such as timers and toothbrushes. When children use toothbrushing equipment in their role play, staff talk to them about when and how to clean their teeth.
• The manager and staff work well with the host school to support children to be emotionally ready for their move on to school. For example, they invite teachers to visit the children so they can become familiar with the adult who will be caring for them. Children know their teacher's name and talk about older siblings who attend the school.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff help children to understand how to share and take turns. However, occasionally, staff do not always support some children to understand and identify how they are feeling and their emotions when they become upset.
• Staff plan experiences to broaden children's knowledge. For example, they plan role play experiences where children pretend to go camping. This ignites conversations about children's own family experiences and helps them to learn about the similarities and differences of children's holiday experiences.
• The manager and staff reflect on the opportunities they offer children. Recent changes have been made outdoors to provide a mud and herb kitchen. This is to increase opportunities for children to use their imagination, to develop relationships with others and to talk about their experiences. Children confidently play alongside others when they pretend to make chicken curry. They allocated children roles to play, such as the deputy, manager, chef and workers.
• Overall, staff provide some opportunities for children to identify how they can keep themselves safe. For example, staff show children how to use knives safely when they cut up their snack. However, staff do not fully help children to develop their knowledge of how to identify potential risks in their play. This includes when they access information online in the nursery and at home.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to learn skills for future learning. They encourage children to complete tasks on their own. For example, children are asked to carry food and plates from the kitchen at snack time. When children finish playing in water, they are asked to hang their apron on the allocated pegs.
• Staff keep parents informed about their children's learning and development. They support parents to continue their children's learning at home. For example, story books are available for children to take home. This is to encourage parents to read to their children. These books include words in children's home languages. which is particularly beneficial for those who speak English as an additional language. This helps to provide a united approach to encourage children to develop a love of books.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to consistently support children to understand their feelings and emotions
• strengthen staff's knowledge of how to help children to understand potential risks in their play, such as when they access the internet in the nursery and at home.