Blossom and Bloom Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at the setting. Staff greet them with warmth and care, helping them detach from their parents with ease. Children show delight when staff arrive for the day. They hold out their arms and smile with excitement before they share a hug. Staff are very responsive to children's cues and recognise when they need rest. For example, staff talk softly to children who appear sleepy. They wrap children in cosy blankets and encourage them to take the time they need to regulate. This helps them feel safe, secure and validated.

Staff incorporate stories and rhymes into children's play. Staff engage babies' interest in stories well. They build anticipation and use different voices for characters. Babies beam as they turn the pages of the book and lift flaps to see what animal is hiding underneath. Staff provide babies with props to help them make connections with language. Babies hold their toy lions and giggle as they roar at each other. This helps babies develop an understanding that language has meaning.

Children behave well. They follow simple instructions and show kindness to one another. Staff help children navigate conflicts. For instance, staff use narration and gentle guidance to help children navigate turn-taking. They do this by validating children's feelings, before helping them find a solution that is 'fair'. Children learn to use sand timers as a tool when sharing toys with peers. This helps them to build positive friendships.

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

• Leadership and management are effective. The newly formed leadership team shows commitment and passion in raising the standards for children's learning and care. Robust staff supervision and practice monitoring arrangements help develop staff's knowledge and skills. Regular coaching opportunities motivate and inspire staff, who report that they feel valued and supported. Together, leaders and staff implement an ambitious curriculum that captures children's curiosity and focuses on what they need to learn next. This helps all children make good progress from their starting points.
• Overall, staff support children's emerging speech and language development well. For example, staff play alongside babies and repeat the word 'drop' as babies drop corks into a metal bowl. Babies show delight as they repeatedly drop their cork and wait for staff to repeat the word. This helps babies become familiar with newly introduced words by hearing them repeatedly. However, staff do not always use communication aids consistently to help those who need it most reach their fullest potential.
• Staff create activities that help young children learn about the world around them through their senses. For example, children create 'potions' as they mix spray foam with dried herbs and water. Staff help children develop techniques, which help them do things for themselves, such as opening flip lids and jars. Staff introduce new language, such as 'rosemary', as children smell the selection of herbs. Staff explain to children where they might find herbs, such as growing in the ground or used to flavour their food.
• Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. This helps prepare them well for their next stage in learning. For example, children practise their big arm movements and pincer grip as they make large marks on chalk boards and make notes on clipboards. This helps children develop the skills they will need for future writing.
• Staff help children develop positive attitudes towards their learning. They encourage children to think critically, as they encounter problems in their play. For example, children make their own paint by squashing berries and observe the marks they make as they paint the inside of a clear tunnel. When children try to reach the top, they notice that they are not tall enough. Staff help children find potential solutions. Children test out their ideas while staff help them consider potential risks. Children persevere and take pride when they are successful.
• Partnership working is effective. Staff communicate regularly with parents in multiple ways, such as daily face-to-face discussions, sharing electronic photo observations and weekly newsletters. This helps create a two-way flow of information and provides parents with ideas on how they can extend children's learning at home. Staff work in partnership with other settings where children also attend, sharing information regularly. This helps provide a consistent approach for children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children, particularly those who may need extra support with their speech development, with a consistent approach when using communication aids.