Banana Moon Day Nursery Caversham

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a secure and nurturing space where children flourish and grow. Children build affectionate and caring bonds with staff, who are responsive to their needs. Children's ideas and contributions are listened to and acted on. This is illustrated when children and parents suggest activities around camping, which is something some children have not experienced before. Staff and children build tents and toast marshmallows safely. This helps children feel valued.

Children develop a true love for books, from an early age. Across the provision, children willingly bring their favourite books to staff to share with them. Even the very youngest ones remember key words from the story, such as when children say 'incey' when pointing to the spider character. Staff skilfully extend children's vocabulary as they join in with the actions for the 'incey wincey spider' nursery rhyme. This is expanded on when children find a toy spider amongst the resources. Staff offer plenty of praise for children's efforts and achievements. This helps to motivate children to do their best.

Overall, staff are good role models and demonstrate high expectations for children's behaviour. Staff promote rules and boundaries. They generally work together to encourage children to share, take turns and play cooperatively. Children develop lasting relationships with others and readily invite their friends into their play, such as when they explore imaginatively and go on a hunt to find 'santa' in the garden.

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

• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. The knowledgeable staff work closely with parents and other professionals to establish targeted interventions to support each child. Staff provide an inclusive environment where they value all children and understand their individual needs.
• Staff provide a wide range of indoor and outdoor experiences that support children's physical development. Children are active daily. Younger children practise their climbing and balancing skills on an indoor climbing frame. Older children show great stamina and strength as they pull themselves up while using the climbing wall. Staff encourage children to take risks safely and persevere at tasks. This positive reinforcement motivates children to try out new things.
• Staff engage children in meaningful discussions, such as talking about making healthy food choices at mealtimes. For example, children learn that pasta gives them energy. In addition, children show a good recall of facts about the nursery's pet tortoise. They make links, stating that tortoises eat similar fruits and vegetables to them. This helps children develop an understanding of what living things have in common.
• The curriculum is thoughtfully structured, with a clear focus on developing children's communication, social and emotional skills. For example, staff impressively teach toddlers how to recognise and name different emotions. Children cleverly relate the scary emotion to a 'bear' in one of their familiar stories. They visually show what it looks like to be angry through their facial expressions and folding their arms. Although staff generally address older children's frustrations positively, some do not always help children to understand the potential impact of their behaviour on others. This does not help these children learn to self-regulate their emotions appropriately.
• Children and staff come from diverse backgrounds, which is celebrated at the nursery. Staff provide stories and activities to teach children about different cultures, such as how people from around the world celebrate Christmas. Staff take children on regular outings, such as to the local museum, which promotes children's understanding of their local community. This helps children to develop an appreciation of their similarities and differences compared to others.
• Leaders implement a system to identify staff's continual professional development needs. This includes observing staff's practice and offering suggestions for improvement. However, leaders do not always ensure professional development programmes are personalised to enhance all staff's teaching skills to consistently high standards. This means that not all children have access to purposeful interactions that fully build on what they need to learn next.
• Partnership working with parents and other professionals is rooted in trust and respect. Staff keep parents well-informed of their children's busy day at nursery, as well as their children's ongoing progress and next steps in learning. Parents appreciate the ideas and resources provided for them to support their children's development at home, such as books and resources for potty training.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to effectively help children to manage their emotions and learn to self-regulate
• implement a more robust professional development system to improve all staff's teaching.