Banana Moon Mere Green

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are well motivated to learn. Staff make good use of daily routines, such as mealtimes, to help children to practise their skills. Babies progress on to drinking from unlidded cups and wash their own hands in readiness for the move to the toddler room. Pre-school children know about making healthy and unhealthy food choices and the benefits of some food groups. Staff encourage toddlers to manage the toileting routines for themselves.

All children progress from their starting points, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children show that they feel happy, relaxed and secure in the care of the staff, which ensures that all children are emotionally ready to learn.

Staff are positive role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. In babies, staff have a consistent approach to teaching boundaries, and state 'no, thank you'. Children are very sociable and enjoy the company of their friends and adults. Babies sit next to each other as they smile and enjoy time together. Toddlers learn to share and take turns. They gather in small groups to play alongside their friends. Pre-school children enjoy using their imaginations as they develop storylines in their play, such as being tortoises or going on a journey.

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

• The manager, who is also the provider, is reflective and embraces ways she can help staff to continuously improve. She has clear action plans based on accurate self-evaluation. Currently, she is enhancing children's outdoor learning.
• The manager provides staff with good support, both professionally and on a personal level. Staff enjoy working at the nursery. They receive regular supervision, coaching and support to extend their teaching skills. Recent training has been focused on training for baby room staff and communication and language across the nursery.
• The provider's curriculum provision for babies and toddlers is well matched to children's stage of development and is progressive. This is reflected well in the learning environment and staff's teaching. However, the curriculum for the pre-school children is not fully progressive to help them to build further on the knowledge and skills they have.
• Parents speak positively about the care their children receive and the kindness shown by staff. The key-person system ensures that parents receive regular updates about their child's development. However, staff working in the pre-school room do not provide parents with comprehensive and regular dialogue about their child's development and ideas to support their learning at home.
• Staff use their observations and assessments of children to plan learning experiences that children enjoy and reflect their interests. They are swift to identify where children need additional support and make timely referrals, so that children with SEND receive the help they need from outside professionals.
• Overall, staff provide children with a wide range of open-ended resources that support their learning well. Babies make links with their experiences as they explore role play in the home corner. Toddlers mix ingredients together to make play dough. They know that adding more flour will make the mixture less sticky. Pre-school children enjoy playing group games.
• Staff provide children with clear language models that help them to develop good communication skills. For example, they offer babies a choice of objects and name these. Children across the nursery engage in songs and enjoy sharing books. Toddlers know what will happen next in the story.
• Children's health is well supported at the nursery. Children enjoy the nutritiously balanced, home-cooked meals and healthy snacks. Babies develop their feeding skills as they put cucumber and carrot sticks into various dips. Staff implement good hygiene throughout the daily routines to minimise the spread of germs. Pre-school children know about the benefits of some of the food groups.
• The manager and staff prioritise children's safety. They complete effective risk assessment and take swift action when they identify hazards. Staff involve children in the risk assessment, such as completing the garden checks together. The manager updates policies so these reflect current practice and keeps updated about local safeguarding concerns. The manager and staff have a secure understanding of signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. This includes concerns related to extreme views and practices. Staff supervise children closely at all times, including at mealtimes. They closely monitor numbers when children move around the nursery. The manager follows safe recruitment processes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the curriculum for pre-school children, so this builds more precisely on the knowledge and skills they already have
• increase communication with parents of pre-school children, so they have a thorough account of their child's development and how they can support learning at home.