Bright Days

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excited to explore the environment and meet their friends. Familiar staff welcome children into the nursery. The children happily separate from their parents. Staff create a nurturing and stimulating environment, which enables children to play and explore. Outdoors, toddlers develop their physical skills and explore the garden. Staff have very high expectations of all children. Older children begin to develop the skills they need to move on to school. They confidently ask staff for help if they need it.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff are very good role models and consistently model good manners. They encourage and support children with clear and consistent expectations. Staff encourage children to be independent and confident from an early age. Children know how to use the toilet. At snack time, staff encourage children to butter their own crumpets and to pour their own drink into their cups.

Children play in a safe environment. Every child is valued. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported particularly well. All children make good progress from their starting points and any gaps in their learning close quickly.

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

• The nursery has a clear curriculum. It provides children with the skills and knowledge to move to their next stage of education. Staff have a strong focus on communication and language. They have engaging and informative conversations with children. Staff ask children questions to build on what they already know. The children describe and discuss the autumnal objects they have collected with their parents over the weekend. For example, they describe a conker as 'shiny' and 'smooth. This helps children to develop their vocabulary and speaking skills.
• The nursery's special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is experienced in her role and is knowledgeable about the children who attend who require additional support. She works closely with each child's key person, family and external agencies to ensure that each child receives timely intervention and targeted support to meet their developmental needs.
• Children develop good self-care skills. For example, they all brush their teeth in nursery as part of their daily routines. They understand the importance of good hygiene routines and know to wash their hands before snacks and meals. Children know that they must wash their hands to remove germs.
• Children demonstrate a love for books and repeat familiar endings in the story. Staff strategically place books in all areas, which prompts children to look at books independently. They are skilled at capturing children's interest in stories, using props and activities well. For example, the children enjoy listening to 'The Wonky Donkey'. However, sometimes, staff plan group activities which involve large numbers of children. As a result, staff find it too difficult to maintain all children's focus on the activity that is taking place.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents know who their children's key person is. They comment on the lovely, caring and supportive nature of the staff. Parents appreciate how much the children have developed during their time at the nursery. New parents value the time that they can spend getting to know staff and ensuring that their child is settled before leaving them. Staff keep parents up to date with their children's daily routine. They regularly review children's progress with parents, using the online parent app.
• Staff have good links with the host school. As children prepare to move on to school, the two settings work closely together to ensure a successful transition. Staff support children with additional needs well. They work closely with other agencies to further support children and their families.
• The manager implements relevant training plans for all staff. This helps to strengthen their practice and has a positive impact on outcomes for children. Staff report very good levels of well-being. They say that the managers support them very well. Staff are passionate about their work with children and strive towards excellence.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to sequence and challenge all children's learning during activities.