Balderton Village Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enthusiastically enter the nursery. The staff warmly greet children, helping them to separate from their parents. Pre-school children confidently make their way to their playroom and independently put their belongings away. Children are happy to see their friends and ask, 'Do you want to play?' Staff set out a range of toys and activities to support children's learning. For example, younger children show good hand-eye coordination as they tip and pour water in and out of containers. Children are encouraged to practise their number skills by counting bricks as staff support them to build a tower. Children respond excitedly as staff praise their efforts. This helps children to understand what is expected of them and encourages them to have a positive attitude to learning.

Staff support children to develop good physical skills. For example, babies are encouraged to pull themselves up to standing in preparation for their first steps. Younger children use a variety of tools to help to develop their small-muscle skills as they squeeze and shape play dough. Pre-school children are supported by staff to manage risks as they climb safely on the climbing frame. They show perseverance as they steer wheeled toys around the garden.

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

• Staff implement a broad curriculum which is designed to provide children with a range of experiences to support their progress in their development. Overall, staff have a good understanding of what they want children to learn. However, many of the activities are focused and adult led, which results in some children losing interest. Children do not have as many opportunities to engage in self-initiated activities to enable them to follow their own interests in play.
• Children show pride and develop a sense of responsibility as they are selected by staff to be 'special helpers'. For example, children help to set the table at mealtimes and hand out fruit at snack time. They visit younger children and eagerly support their friends.
• Staff provide children with a range of opportunities to be creative. Babies smile and giggle as they use their hands to explore the texture of the paint. Older children explore and experiment as they use a variety of small tools to create paintings of fire engines.
• Overall, children's communication and language development is supported well. Staff respond to babies' sounds appropriately and introduce younger children to new vocabulary, such as the word 'shortbread' when baking biscuits. However, at times, staff use long, complex sentences which are difficult for some children to understand.
• Developing children's independence is given high priority throughout the nursery. Younger children are encouraged to show perseverance when putting on their shoes. Pre-school children are encouraged to serve their own meals and snacks.
• Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children learn to behave well. Staff provide them with gentle reminders about positive behaviours. For example, children are encouraged to share and take turns as they play with toy dinosaurs.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to learn about the wider world and local community through trips out and inviting visitors into the nursery. A visit from the fire service helped children to learn about what is inside a fire engine, such as the equipment they carry. Children have opportunities to visit local farms with alpacas. Staff take them on buses and trains to explore the local area.
• The established staff team and manager work together effectively. Staff communicate well to ensure that staff deployment is effective. Supervision and peer observations support staff to improve practice and deepen their knowledge of teaching. Staff attend regular staff meetings to support each other, share ideas and discuss best practices.
• Parents say they cannot speak highly enough of the staff. They comment that they are confident that their children are well cared for and happy. Staff organise stay-and-play sessions for parents and children to attend. This helps parents to see children in the nursery and enables staff to share children's learning experiences. Parents receive regular updates about their child's progress and feel they know what they are learning. Parents feel that staff support their children to be ready for school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's interactions with children to ensure that the language they use is developmentally appropriate to support children's understanding
• provide further child-initiated activities to enable children to develop their own ideas and build on their interests.