Bloomsbury Street Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily, settle quickly and demonstrate confidence as they seek out toys and resources to play with. Staff work closely with families to identify the knowledge and information they need so they can provide tailored support to children. This is particularly evident for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff act swiftly when they identify children with delays in their development. This is to ensure that children receive timely intervention to help them catch up.

Staff work hard to generate warm and nurturing relationships with the children. They offer sensitive support to help children feel safe and secure. Staff identify the individual needs of children and use this information to plan a range of interesting experiences and play opportunities. This helps children to make good progress in their learning and development. For example, children engage well and show high levels of enthusiasm as they practise different poses in the weekly yoga class. They show good levels of perseverance as they move their bodies in a variety of ways, which supports their physical development.

Staff understand the importance of children having opportunities to engage in meaningful language activities. This contributes towards children hearing words linked to their play experiences and helps build their range of vocabulary. For example, staff model descriptive words, such as 'squeeze', 'poke' and 'roll', while teaching children how to manipulate play dough. Children enjoy moulding the dough as shown to them by adults and start to recognise words connected to their play actions.

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

• Leaders who hold a position of designated safeguarding lead act on child protection concerns swiftly when brought to their attention. They understand how to meet their roles and responsibilities and work with agencies with statutory responsibilities in order to keep children safe. They use supervision meetings to identify training needs. Leaders and staff engage in multiple opportunities through meetings and group training to further enhance and develop their safeguarding knowledge. This supports leaders and staff to act swiftly if they believe children may be at risk of harm.
• Leaders provide training and mentoring for staff to help them plan an effective curriculum. Staff report favourably on the support they receive to help enhance their professional development. Staff use their knowledge to cultivate a positive environment for children to thrive in all areas of their learning.
• Staff are clear about what they want children to learn and why. They use the knowledge they have about children, including their interests, to plan a sequenced curriculum. However, there are some minor inconsistencies in teaching practice, so what is intended to be taught to children is not fully implemented. Despite this, children demonstrate they are making good progress.
• Staff show good levels of vigilance and intervene with appropriate strategies to support children's behaviour. For instance, they use visual props, such as sand timers, to help children prepare for changes in the daily routine. However, on occasions, communication between staff is not consistent to help children's growing understanding of behavioural expectations. Nevertheless, children generally behave well.
• Staff provide experiences such as visits in the local community and various play opportunities to support children to learn about themselves and others. For example, they read stories and engage children in activities to find out about people and communities. This contributes towards children developing an appreciation for similarities and differences and learning about what makes them unique.
• Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Staff support children to remember knowledge they have previously learned. During story time, staff ask children questions to encourage them to share what they know. Children excitedly remember and recall descriptive words linked to book language, such as 'author' and 'blurb'. This contributes towards developing children's communication, language and literacy skills.
• Staff who work with very young children foster positive relationships to build secure attachments. These children show confidence and curiosity as staff provide a variety of sensory experiences. They encourage them to touch and smell cinnamon sticks, scented orange slices and sticky spider webs as part of sharing autumnal experiences.
• Staff communicate effectively with parents verbally and through use of an online application. This ensures that parents receive regular information about their child's day and the progress they are making. Parents hold leaders and staff in very high regard in relation to the impact they have on their children. For example, parents say that their children have flourished in self-confidence as staff adapt and tailor every day to meet their individual learning needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's teaching practice so that what is intended to be taught is implemented accurately
• strengthen communication between staff to ensure that behavioural expectations are consistently promoted.