Bright Futures @ the gateway

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and thoroughly enjoy spending time at this nursery. They are warmly welcomed by caring staff. The manager and team have created a setting that promotes inclusivity. They work incredibly hard to support the diverse community in which they belong. There is a strong ethos of connection and support for all families who use the setting. Staff build positive relationships with all the children. They are attentive and nurturing in their approach. They praise children for making positive choices such as sharing with their friends and being kind. This helps children to feel safe and secure in the nursery. Managers use additional funding, such as early years pupil premium, wisely to enrich children's learning experiences. This helps to support the development of individual children.

Managers and staff know the children well. Staff take great care to get to know every child thoroughly and provide children with a wide array of enjoyable activities. They use their knowledge to plan and provide a range of learning experiences that ignite children's interests. For example, they help children to learn about how ice changes in to water when it melts. Staff further extend this to teach children about polar animals such as penguins. Younger children explore the benefits of dough as they mould shapes. This helps them to develop their small muscles that will support later writing.

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

• Leaders devise an ambitious curriculum that gives children a breadth of knowledge, experiences, and skills which they need for life. Staff have a shared understanding of the curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do. This helps to ensure that there is a well-sequenced curriculum for children to access.
• Children's communication and language development is supported well. Staff understand how to create language rich environments that support children to broaden their vocabulary and develop speech. For example, they eagerly narrate alongside children's play, using new vocabulary. Staff repeat words over days to help children remember them. Carefully considered stories of the month, further strengthen children's understanding of new words. This promotes a love of reading.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff work closely with a range of external professionals, sharing strategies to support the learning needs of children. Staff monitor children with emerging developmental concerns and provide bespoke support to families. As a result, all children are making good progress.
• Staff practice is closely monitored with regular supervision meetings. Staff are provided with training and professional development. For example, additional training and resources have been purchased, such as 'Mini Minds Matter'. These resources help children learn more about their feelings and to support them to settle at the nursery. However, systems for monitoring practice do not provide the manager with precise evaluations of the quality of staff interactions with children. This means there are minor inconsistencies in the delivery of the curriculum.
• Partnership working is a strength. Parents speak highly of the setting and commend staff for going above and beyond. Staff keep parents informed of their children's time at the setting and encourage them to share children's achievements from home. Links with the local authority and other childcare professionals are robust.
• Staff support children's health well. Children learn how to keep themselves healthy and the importance of adopting a good diet. They develop healthy lifestyles. For instance, children enjoy healthy snacks and drinks, access fresh air daily and take part in rigorous physical activity. They learn about good dental hygiene and how to manage risk appropriately. The nursery has been awarded a 'Healthy early years' award through the local authority.
• Staff are good role models and demonstrate respect towards each other. Children learn from this and show respect and understanding for each other. Staff offer praise and encouragement to children and support them to keep on trying. This helps to builds children's confidence in their own abilities.
• Staff provide a range of opportunities to develop a deeper understanding of the world we live in. For example, they plan trips on buses and to the local library. They visit the local primary school for read together sessions and sports day. This helps to support children's experiences of the wider world.
• Self-evaluation is accurate and improvement plans are monitored rigorously. The manager's capacity to drive forward change and bring about improvement is very good. The staff team show a passion and dedication to their roles. They work cohesively together and have a clear vision for continuous improvement to ensure that children receive high-quality care.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build upon the systems for monitoring the quality of staff interactions with children to help strengthen the intended delivery of the curriculum across all areas of the provision.