Barnes Wallis Community Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form positive relationships with staff. They are warmly welcomed on arrival and settle quickly, which demonstrates they feel secure and happy. Children benefit from the small number of children, and staff are extremely attentive to their needs. For example, staff recognise when children are hungry or feel tired. They provide cuddles and offer reassurance, which supports children's well-being effectively. Children have labelled trays and staff display their artwork, which helps to give them a sense of belonging and raises their self-esteem.

Children show positive attitudes to their learning. They confidently make choices and are motivated to join in. For example, older children help the manager care for the garden area. They fill watering cans with water and carry them outside. Children follow instructions and understand the importance of nurturing vegetables to help them grow. Children enjoy trying the produce, which supports their understanding of healthy food choices.

Overall, children behave well. They understand the nursery rules and are given gentle reminders. Staff have high expectations for all children and role model expected behaviour. Children take responsibility for their toys and help tidy away when they have finished playing. Older children support their younger peers. They find toys for them and share resources.

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

• Staff provide a broad range of experiences covering the curriculum areas. They plan activities to promote children's interests and nurture curiosity. Staff interact well with children and encourage them to try tasks for themselves, which increases their independence. However, staff do not always extend children's interests during activities to help them increase their knowledge further.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents speak highly of the nursery and staff. They state that their children are keen to attend, have developed strong attachments and feel secure. Communication is excellent and parents receive daily updates on their children's routines and progress. Next steps and ideas to continue learning at home are shared, which supports consistency.
• Staff promote a culture of diversity and inclusion through the staff team, resources and books. Children's home languages are encouraged, and staff learn words to support them alongside learning English. Parents and children celebrate different festivals, visit community resources, share food and activities. This supports children to develop an understanding of what makes them unique and learn to respect other cultures and religions.
• Children's communication and language skills are extended through staff's interactions. Staff engage children in conversations, introduce new vocabulary and provide commentary. Staff babble with babies, repeat words and introduce new sounds. Older children share their ideas and retell parts of familiar stories. Younger children enjoy singing and are encouraged to increase their sentences. As a result, children become confident to communicate.
• The manager is enthusiastic about providing a good-quality provision. She has robust recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitable. Staff have regular supervision sessions and the manager monitors practice. This ensures any training needs are identified and addressed quickly. Staff complete training which increases their knowledge and skills.
• Staff support the manager to evaluate their practice and make plans for improvement. They review activities and use assessments to monitor children's progress. Staff seek feedback from parents and include views from the children. The manager has identified areas to improve, including developing the grass areas in the garden and promoting good oral health with children.
• Children develop a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. They develop their large muscles climbing, running and steering scooters. Children eat healthy snacks and meals and understand the importance of drinking water to stay hydrated. Children count as they make handprints and share stories. However, staff miss opportunities to increase children's mathematical skills and introduce new concepts.
• Staff teach children to manage risks and keep themselves safe. Children are given gentle reminders to concentrate when running or climbing. They understand that scissors can be dangerous and that they need to wear sun cream when it is hot. Staff teach children about road safety, which lays the foundations for positive habits from an early age.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's interactions during activities to build on children's interest and extend their knowledge further
• introduce new concepts during play to increase children's mathematical understanding.