Building Blocks Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff place an importance on supporting children to feel safe and secure in the setting. Staff give younger babies lots of cuddles and know all children well. This helps children to feel happy and gives them a sense of belonging. Staff have high expectations of what children are able to achieve. Staff and children enjoy reading stories together. Staff use a range of language, and children undertake actions and count objects. This helps children to make good progress in their learning and development.

Staff are good role models for children and support them to learn new skills. For example, staff show children how to use tweezers to pick up objects and put the correct colour and number of objects in pots. The engaging activities support children to demonstrate positive attitudes to learning, and they have good levels of concentration. Children engage in practices that promote good hygiene, and staff use these opportunities to educate children. For example, staff talk to children about how washing their hands helps them to get rid of germs. This supports children to learn about how to keep themselves healthy.

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

• The manager's intent for what she wants children to learn is well thought through. Staff working directly with children have a shared understanding of what they want children to achieve. This helps to ensure that there is a well-sequenced curriculum for children to access.
• The curriculum for communication and language is good. Staff use repetitive language with children. They narrate what children are doing, read stories, sing songs and talk to children throughout the day. This helps children to use language confidently, such as singing nursery rhymes without support.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff work closely with other professionals to meet the individual needs of children. This supports children to make good progress from their starting points.
• The manager provides staff with training and professional development opportunities. There is a clear focus on specific areas of education that helps to build on staff's knowledge and skills and improve the quality of education for children. For example, following recent training, staff have been successful in improving children's attention and concentration in group activities.
• The setting liaises with external organisations to gain independent feedback on the quality of the provision, and staff undertake peer observations of each other. This helps to improve the opportunities available to children and their families. However, arrangements 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.
• Staff consistently support children to understand the expectations of their behaviour within the setting. For example, staff remind children to walk while moving around indoors and use picture cards to aid children's understandings. This supports children to behave well and follow the rules.
• Staff recognise the things that children do well. 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.
• Careful consideration has been given to the curriculum for personal, social and emotional development. Staff create opportunities for children to work together. For example, young children take turns in choosing an object out of a box, which they then sing about. This supports children to cooperate with others and play alongside each other.
• Children have a range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, they can use climbing frames, pedal on bikes and climb up ladders to use slides. This helps children to develop their gross motor skills and provides them with regular exercise.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the arrangements for monitoring the quality of staff interactions with children to help strengthen the delivery of the curriculum.