Building Blocks Day Nursery (NW) LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and willing to learn in the stimulating environment, carefully considered by staff. Children have close bonds with all staff and settle with ease. This supports children's welfare and emotional development. Children develop positive friendships with others. They learn how to be caring and to help one another. For example, children help their friends to work out how to tidy up the toy cars, showing them how to move the cars so the drawer shuts properly. From an early age, children make choices in their play from a wide range of resources and freely explore the environment. Staff work well to build relationships and are kind and attentive to the children's wants and needs. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Babies like playing in the water. They enjoy splashing around and blowing bubbles. This supports their core strength and physical skills.

Children become highly confident, including those who are newer to the setting. They are extremely motivated and eager to have responsibilities. Staff encourage children to work together effectively to complete a task. For example, children hold the edges of a large parachute, rolling a ball back and forth, preventing it from falling off the parachute. Children are very proud of their achievements. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour and children behave extremely well. They know the rules of the setting, including walking inside. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), show positive attitudes towards their learning, make good progress and are ready for their next stages in learning.

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

• Children who receive additional funding, particularly those with SEND are well supported. Management use funding with flexibility to meet individual children's needs. Staff are skilled in identifying additional needs early. They then work effectively with a range of professionals to ensure that all children make the best possible progress.
• Children's independence is promoted well. For instance, children are encouraged to wipe their face and hands before and after mealtimes. Good hygiene practices are in place. Children understand the importance of washing their hands. In addition, children learn about good oral hygiene and healthy food choices. This helps support children to develop some of the skills they will need in readiness for school and raises their awareness of leading a healthy lifestyle.
• Staff have a detailed understanding of how children learn. They make regular assessments of what children know and can do. Staff use this information to plan interesting experiences for children. However, on occasions, staff do not consistently provide children with enough challenge in their learning, to further enhance their thinking skills. For example, children are encouraged to use their imagination skills, creating their own clay monsters. However, resources are somewhat limited, and this occasionally prevents children from being challenged to fully develop their ideas and critical thinking skills.
• Overall, staff provide a stimulating environment for children to learn and play. They plan a range of interesting activities that enhance children's learning across several areas. For example, children learn to thread the beads onto the rope to create their own necklace. This helps support children's fine-motor skills and mathematical development. However, staff do not always effectively provide experiences that consistently promote learning for children who prefer to play and learn outdoors.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents comment on how supportive and flexible staff are. They feel fully informed of their child's progress and enjoy the opportunities to have parents evenings. Staff provide resources, such as a lending library, to encourage parents to build on children's learning at home.
• Managers ensure they support staff development well. They are aware of the strengths and weaknesses within the team and take action to support all staff. For example, they use skilled staff from their other settings to act as positive role models during planned activities. During story time, an experienced practitioner demonstrates how to use a range of props to support the story telling. This helps to keep the children engaged. This also demonstrates how effective systems support staff members to build on the good practice already used in the nursery. This further enhances children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to continuously provide opportunities to challenge children's learning
• plan purposeful play opportunities for the children who prefer to play and learn outdoors.