Broadheath Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. Children explore different activities staff plan for them. For example, they concentrate as they fill and empty their trucks with cereal and roll over it to hear it crunch. Children use their imagination as they discover toy animals in the safari. They describe the different textures they feel, such as 'spiky' and 'rough', as they touch the scales on the crocodile's back. This helps children to develop a broader vocabulary. Children share their excitement about an acorn. They learn about growth as they watch it change and sprout roots into the clear bottle. Children enjoy talking about how the acorn has changed, which helps to develop their early understanding of the world around them.

Children behave well. Staff are consistent when they manage children's behaviour as conflict arises. They provide children with age-appropriate explanations of their expectations for their behaviour. This helps children to understand the boundaries in place at nursery. Children giggle in delight as they actively scoot around on their bicycles in the garden. They chase each other as they play games together and form friendships. Younger children develop their curiosity as they make choices from a song bag. They anticipate what song will come next and share their sheer delight of the choice they made when they show their character from the bag.

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

• Managers have made recent changes to their curriculum. They have identified how they want to develop this further to ensure they are providing children with even broader experiences. Staff share this vision and support children to be independent and curious learners.
• Older children eagerly explore and learn about different habitats that animals live in. They describe the different textures they feel, such as 'sticky', when scooping in the mud. However, at times, younger children occasionally lose interest in their environment. This is because staff have not always planned activities as well as they could to help develop children's learning even further. For example, on occasion, some activities lack challenge to support children to further extend their skills and knowledge.
• During the day, staff support children with transitions by following specific routines. This helps children to know what is happening next. However, on occasion, some children sit for extended periods of time and begin to lose concentration. For example, children enjoy a singing session which then leads to a story. However, some younger babies become restless, and staff do not always adapt their teaching quickly enough to fully meet their needs.
• Staff regularly assess children's progress in their learning. They review their next steps and provide different activities to help close gaps in their learning. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with staff and other professionals to ensure that children receive the right support at the right time. This supports all children to make good progress in their development.
• Managers regularly observe staff in practice. These observations form part of the ongoing support that staff receive to raise the quality of education for children. Staff meet with the manager during their supervision meetings to discuss their key children as well as any training needs for their professional development. Staff share positive feedback for the support they receive.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Parents speak positively about the care their children receive. They say their children are happy at the nursery, and they receive regular updates about their learning. Staff share activity ideas with parents to extend their child's learning at home.
• Children enjoy home-cooked meals. Staff follow robust allergy management procedures to ensure that children eat the right foods. Before mealtimes, children follow good handwashing routines. Staff talk to children about the importance of handwashing before they eat. This helps children to develop their understanding of self-care routines.
• Staff support children well to develop their skills in preparation for going to school. They support children to build on their confidence and learn about their feelings. Staff talk to children about how they are feeling and help them to understand this. They provide them with ways to overcome their feelings when they feel unsure. This helps children to develop their emotional resilience.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further develop staff's knowledge of how to effectively plan even more challenging experiences that reflect the needs and interests of all children
• refine the organisation of routines so that children, particularly the youngest, fully engage in their learning at all times.