Belmont Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate they are happy at this warm and welcoming nursery. The staff are kind and provide a calm and nurturing environment, which helps children feel safe and secure. Staff use children's home languages to communicate with them, to support their understanding. Children settle in quickly and become confident learners. For example, toddlers move around the nursery independently to explore the good range of toys and activities on offer. Adults are vigilant and at hand to support their learning as they play. For instance, children learn about emergency vehicles, and that an ambulance takes sick people to the hospital. Adult-led activities take into account children's interests and what they need to learn next. For instance, they are fascinated to watch the demonstration of an activity about floating and sinking. They show excitement as they have a go experimenting with different objects. As a result, they develop positive attitudes to learning. Children concentrate and have fun as they create puppets from art and craft materials. They proudly show off their models to adults who praise them in return. This boosts their self-confidence. Children behave very well. They listen attentively and wait patiently to take turns. They cooperate and play respectfully with each other.

Children enjoy, listen and join in with actions to familiar songs and rhymes. This promotes their language skills. They foster a love for reading from an early age and eagerly choose books from the shelves, browsing through them with interest. Staff use circle time for structured, shared reading. However, on occasion, the circle time is not managed effectively and hence becomes a little chaotic. This leads to children becoming distracted, so not all children benefit. Overall, staff plan a well-designed curriculum across all areas of learning. Leaders have an effective assessment and monitoring process, and this ensures children make progress. Those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and their families are very well supported.

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

• Staff carefully deploy themselves so they can support children's learning. For example, they describe what children are doing as they role play and use words to enhance children's understanding.
• Staff speak passionately about supporting children at the nursery. They understand the important role they play in educating young children.
• Children develop a good range of independence skills during their time at the nursery. For example, toddlers wash their own hands and eat independently using cutlery. They learn to wipe their nose and dispose of tissues appropriately in the bin. Adults teach them how to 'wipe, wipe' the tables and sort the toys away when it is tidy-up time. Staff work closely with parents to help children become toilet trained.
• Staff give children time to complete activities at their own pace. They have the opportunity to revisit their favourite activities from their inside play during outdoor play. This helps them to consolidate their learning.
• Overall, children are encouraged to develop their skills in early writing and the learning of numbers and counting well. However, this is not fully embedded throughout the curriculum. Therefore, older children in particular, do not receive consistent opportunities to learn mathematical language and develop the skills that they need in preparation for school.
• Children are supported to adopt a healthy lifestyle. For instance, they are encouraged to taste different fruits at snack time and to eat their carrots because 'they are good for eyes'. They have daily opportunities for fresh air and exercise, as they play in the garden or go out for local walks. This aids their emotional well-being.
• Children develop good physical skills, for example, as they use the large apparatus and slide and ride tricycles.
• Children learn about the wider world and the diverse community they are part of. They learn about their own festivals and those of their peers. Parents are invited into the nursery to take part in a cultural food day.
• Children transition well into the nursery. Staff use visual boards and activities, which further supports those who speak English as an additional language.
• The nursery establishes strong parent partnership. Parents talk highly about the support they receive, including that during the COVID-19 pandemic, to help them further engage and extend their children's learning at home. They feel they are listened to, and their opinions valued.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• evaluate the organisation of circle time to ensure all children benefit from shared story time
• embed the teaching of mathematics within the curriculum, particularly for older children.