Brambles Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Friendly staff and the welcoming manager greet children as they arrive at the nursery. Children separate from their carers with ease. This helps them to settle quickly into their rooms at the start of the day. Young babies approach staff for cuddles and reassurance. Staff respond with warmth and kindness. As a result, children demonstrate they feel happy, safe and secure in their care.

Staff place a high priority on developing children's communication and language skills. Staff speak clearly, repeat new words and make sure that they are facing children as they talk. Young children babble and practise using single words. Older children progress to talking confidently in sentences and sharing their ideas. Staff use a 'book of the week' to plan interesting activities that motivate children to engage and learn. Consequently, all children show a love for books and stories.

Staff regularly praise children. Younger children delight at the round of applause they receive when they successfully use a spoon to feed themselves at mealtimes. This helps to build children's self-esteem and encourages perseverance with new skills. Staff use gentle reminders about behavioural expectations, such as using 'kind hands' and 'walking feet'. Children listen and follow instructions. As a result, they learn how to behave well.

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

• Leaders design a rich and varied curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. They have developed a set of specific skills that they want each child to achieve before they move on to the next stage in their educational journey. These skills help to give all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), the foundations they need to make good progress in their learning.
• Staff skilfully use props to support pre-school children's emotional well-being. They use a puppet called 'James' to encourage children to talk about different feelings. They discuss how they might feel scared when meeting new people. Older children engage and share their opinions and ideas. However, staff do not fully consider the age and stage of development of the younger children who have joined the room. Sometimes, the questions are too difficult for these children to answer, so they lose interest and move away. Therefore, these children do not always have the same opportunities to participate in learning.
• Children show kindness and are developing friendships. They fondly bid their friends goodbye as they leave to go home. Staff regularly promote the use of manners and the importance of helping others. They encourage children to work together to find items in the garden during a hide-and-seek activity. This helps children to build secure and important relationships with others. However, sometimes, when children want to repeat the same activity, staff do not adapt or extend the task to increase its challenge. This means that some children are not pushed to make the rapid progress they are capable of.
• Partnership working with parents is strong. Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the staff and the support they receive. They say that their children are very happy. All parents spoken to know their child's key person and what their child is working towards next. Staff share ideas on how parents can continue their child's learning at home. This helps to consolidate children's learning between home and the nursery.
• Staff's well-being is a priority. Leaders are attentive to the individual needs of their team. They regularly observe staff's teaching practice and provide immediate, constructive feedback. This helps to improve the overall quality of teaching. As a result, staff morale is high and they feel valued in their roles.
• Children thoroughly enjoy their time in the nursery. All children are happy and settled. Staff recognise that children with SEND might need extra support. Leaders design cosy, calming areas for children to have quiet one-to-one time with their key person. This supports children's overall well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• increase staff's awareness of individual children when they are planning activities, to support each child's stage of development
• improve staff teaching practice so that they understand how to extend activities for children.