Big N All Preschool and Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a welcoming environment that allows children to access a variety of resources and equipment easily. They organise engaging activities across all curriculum areas that reflect the children's interests. For instance, children enthusiastically participate in painting characters from stories using a range of colours. They take pride in showing their finished artwork to the staff, who offer praise and encouragement. This boosts the children's self-esteem and enhances their expressive art and design skills. Children are happy and confident exploring the playroom. Their behaviour is positive, due to the staff's high expectations and the consistent use of gentle reminders and praise.

Staff support children's communication and language skills well. Children gather to sing songs at group time, and excitedly join in with familiar phrases and actions. Staff in the toddler and preschool rooms model correct language and engage in conversations with the children. In the baby area, staff extend, repeat and model language effectively. Older children and babies also enjoy snuggling up to the staff as they read age-appropriate stores to them. Staff develop older children's early writing skills. Staff model correct pencil grip and control as children use a range of drawing and mark-making tools. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress and are well prepared for school.

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

• Staff observe children's play and have a good understanding of each child's individual needs and interests. They carefully assess what each child has achieved and share this with parents. However, they do not always use the information they gather about children's learning consistently. As a result, activities do not always closely align with the children's abilities or the next steps in their development.
• Children participate in various outdoor activities that promote their physical skill development. For example, staff encourage older babies to improve their balance as they walk across large stepping blocks, which helps them walk more confidently. At the same time, older children learn to climb on equipment, ride wheeled toys and engage in construction activities, taking pride in their creations.
• Staff organise a variety of messy play activities that are popular with children of all ages. These activities provide opportunities for children to explore different materials, such as flour, sand, water, and paint. Through these experiences, children develop their sensory skills and improve their understanding of concepts like space, size, shape, and colour.
• Mathematics is an integral part of children's play activities. Children develop skills in counting, adding, and problem-solving due to the staff's good understanding of effective mathematics instruction. They make good use of the resources available in the engaging play environment to enhance learning. For example, when children select different toppings for their pancakes, they count how many they have chosen and are encouraged to compare different options, as well as to add more to a given number.
• Staff effectively monitor children's progress and quickly identify those who require additional support. Furthermore, leaders and staff work closely with parents and professionals to create and implement individual support plans for children with SEND. For example, children participate in daily small-group activities that support their communication and language skills effectively.
• Parents provide positive feedback about the nursery, noting that their children are happy to attend. They value the daily conversations with staff and appreciate receiving information and photos of their children through the online app. The staff offer guidance to parents on various topics, such as toilet training and feeding. Parents can borrow books from nursery to help them support their children's learning at home.
• Supervision arrangements for staff are good and training is regularly undertaken. Leaders implement a robust self-evaluation process that provides a clear view of areas for development. For example, they are currently working on developing the outdoor curriculum. Staff regularly contribute their thoughts and ideas. However, leaders do not yet gather the views of parents to help to identify the nursery's strengths and areas for future development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make precise use of what is known about children in order to plan opportunities to support their next steps more fully
• develop the self-evaluation process to include the parents' views of strengths and areas for development.