BrightStart@Parks

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this warm and welcoming nursery. They form trusting relationships with the caring staff, who take time to know the children as individuals. This means that when children are unsettled, staff swiftly offer the support and reassurance they need. Activities are thoughtfully resourced to stimulate and engage the children through their interests. For example, children invent and act out stories with toys in an exciting 'Dinosaur Land'. They make marks using toy dinosaurs in paint and stomp around with glee as they sing dinosaur rhymes. Children are confident to express their own ideas, and staff listen with interest to support their plans. For example, they make ice lollies and find ways to take their dinosaurs for a walk.

Children behave well. They show that they understand the clear expectations during different routines and activities, such as sitting down at mealtimes, so that they do not choke. Staff give children gentle and consistent reminders to help them understand the rules of the nursery. They support children to learn to be friendly and well mannered, as they follow their lovely example.

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

• Dedicated leaders and the new manager have an accurate evaluation of the nursery. They have identified positive actions to help drive further improvements. Staff are well supported by regular discussions where children's progress and activity ideas are shared. Staff have good opportunities to access training, and their ongoing professional development and well-being are considered during supervision sessions. Positive improvements have been made to the organisation of the environment and activities. However, some staff miss opportunities to support more able children to deepen their ideas and maximise their learning even further.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from highly personalised support. For instance, staff created a special 'dream cave' for children to relax in. Staff work closely with families and other agencies to ensure there is a joined-up approach to children's learning. Consequently, all children make good progress in their development and learning.
• Staff position books carefully in all areas of the nursery, inside and outdoors. Children happily present books to staff, confident they will be read to. Staff ensure they read clearly and slowly so children can join in. They extend children's knowledge as they talk. For example, children listen to a story about a trip to the dentist. They then move on to brush the teeth in a giant mouth, to illustrate what they had just learned. This helps children develop a love of books.
• Staff focus on promoting children's emerging communication and language skills.
• They routinely encourage children to join in conversations, and sing songs and rhymes while children play. Staff support children with speech delay by using clear words, some hand signs and visual clues. However, not all staff consistently do this, and training to boost their confidence and skills has yet to be secured. This limits children's communication and language development and their social skills.
• Children have good opportunities to learn about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle. Staff provide plenty of fresh water to drink and healthy snacks. Children take part in preparing a huge watermelon and learn that eating fruit is good for our bodies. They have regular access to the outdoors, where they enjoy running and jumping. Staff teach children well about personal hygiene, and encourage them to independently wash their hands and brush their teeth.
• Parents are very happy with the care provided for their children. They comment that 'the staff here really care about every child' and 'they work really hard to get them ready for going to school'. Parents are pleased to be allowed back into the nursery at pick-up times to discuss their child's learning. The nursery is a valued part of the community.
• Staff teach children how to assess and manage their own risks, such as taking care with string as they take plastic dinosaurs for a walk around the nursery. This helps children to keep themselves safe and promotes their independence and self-assurance.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to continue to build on their interactions with the most able children, to ensure they consistently extend and challenge children's learning
• ensure leaders support staff to improve their teaching to the highest level, so that all activities consistently support all children's communication and language development.