Barnies Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The staff place children at the heart of everything they do at this inclusive and welcoming nursery. Children enter with confidence and settle at activities that interest them. They have formed good bonds with staff, who know their individual needs and interests. Younger children show that they feel secure as they approach staff for cuddles and reassurance when needed. Children are respectful and consistently display positive behaviours. They demonstrate a sense of belonging at the nursery.

The curriculum across the nursery meets the needs of the children. It sequentially builds up to prepare children for their transition to school. It has a focus on children's communication and language and their personal, social and emotional development. Children are inspired by the environment and what is on offer. They make choices and lead their own play, while staff provide teaching moments to help them embed their learning. For instance, children are keen explorers outdoors, where they build constructions using a range of materials. Staff introduce tape measures and model to children how to measure the constructions. Children then incorporate this new skill into their play. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well across the nursery. All children are making good levels of progress from their starting points.

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

• The provider is dedicated and has a clear vision for the nursery. The setting has effective processes in place to continually monitor and evaluate what they offer. It uses feedback from parents, children, staff and outside organisations to review their practice and plan what it can do next to support children's learning and development. For example, it has introduced peer-on-peer observations so all staff can observe each other and provide support to ensure teaching is of a good quality. The staff reflect on how supportive this has been.
• The staff place a huge emphasis on the well-being of the children in their care. They have created a culture in which children feel confident to try new things and to feel empowered when they make mistakes. For instance, staff regularly use the term 'marvellous mistakes' when they or the children get things wrong. This teaches children that everyone makes mistakes as they learn.
• Older children thoroughly enjoy the opportunities they have to explore their physical development. They take safe risks as they climb up and jump off tyres. Children show determination and keep on trying to succeed, which is supported and encouraged by staff. Children show great pride as they achieve what they have set out to do. However, there are limited opportunities for babies who are non-mobile or newly walking to practise their gross motor skills.
• Staff provide good support to children with SEND. They are attentive to their needs and consistent with their approaches. The provider works alongside other professionals involved in children's care to ensure continuity in children's ongoing progress. It uses additional funding well to benefit the specific needs of individual children to support them in accessing the curriculum. All children, including those with SEND, make good progress.
• Generally, staff's teaching across the setting is good. Older children hold back- and-forth conversations with staff, who ask relevant questions to gather information about what children know and can do. For example, when staff found raspberries growing in the garden, they held conversations with children about what they could be and their features. However, at times, staff do not reflect on how to best promote the speech and language development of younger children. For instance, when staff read to children, they are facing away from them. In addition, conditions around them, such as noise levels, do not support children in being able to listen and respond.
• The nursery ensures that children's health is promoted and provides nutritious food and snack options. It has sought outside advice on food portions and developed a balanced menu, which children thoroughly enjoy. Children's individual health requirements are met well. Staff implement good hygiene routines to help limit the spread of germs, and they teach children about making healthy food choices.
• Staff have formed positive relationships with parents. They are provided with information regarding what their children are learning and their next steps in development. Furthermore, parents are included in decisions about what children learn. For example, they are encouraged to provide ideas about what children could learn next at nursery based on interests from home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the learning environments for younger children to focus more closely on promoting their physical development
• strengthen teaching to target and extend children's developing speech, vocabulary and language.