Carville Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and are welcomed warmly by the friendly staff. Children show enthusiasm to explore the wide range of activities available. They develop secure bonds with the kind and nurturing staff. Babies enjoy exploring sensory activities with cereal and trucks. Staff support them to discuss the different trucks and textures as they play. This helps to extend babies' understanding of new words and different colours. Babies also have fun playing with a variety of toy animals. Staff help them to identify different animals and the sounds they make. Toddlers show high engagement as they investigate different elements of a farm during sensory play. Staff effectively encourage discussions about which animals produce which foods and encourage the children to discuss the different smells of a range of herbs and vegetables. Children show a very positive approach towards learning, and staff extend their knowledge extremely well.

Pre-school children show good levels of interest and curiosity as they make 'silly soup'. Staff skilfully support children to recognise different sounds and letters and identify words that rhyme. This helps to develop children's early literacy skills. Children also have great fun experimenting with shaving foam and toy sea creatures. As they play, they receive effective support to develop their thinking skills and extend their understanding of the world. Staff are positive role models and teach children about expectations, boundaries, kindness and sharing in an age-appropriate way. As a result, children behave very well and show they are happy and secure.

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

• Staff know children very well and are knowledgeable about supporting children's development across the different areas of learning. Staff plan a good range of activities based on children's interests or gaps in their learning to help them move forward with their development. It is evident that children make good progress in relation to their starting points.
• Partnerships with other professionals are well established. Staff work collaboratively with external professionals and provide effective support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For instance, staff follow recommendations and strategies suggested by speech and language therapists and local authority SEND specialists to develop children's communication skills. As a result, children make steady progress.
• Parents express high levels of satisfaction with their experiences at the nursery. Many state that staff are highly invested in their children's learning and well-being. They also value the good communication from staff and most say they feel well involved in their children's learning and progress.
• Children's independence is supported well. For instance, children enjoy making choices about their play based on their interests. Children's health and hygiene are also supported effectively. This is evident when they frequently wash their hands and have discussions about healthy foods and the importance of good oral health.
• On balance, staff interact with children in a positive way, and children show good engagement throughout most of the day. However, at times when some staff take their lunch breaks, staff deployment is evidently less effective and some children show that they require higher levels of support and guidance when playing games or participating in activities.
• Overall, babies receive positive support with their learning and development. Staff are attentive and encouraging and meet their needs well. However, at times, staff working with this age group do not always maximise opportunities that arise during play to extend babies' language skills and learning to the highest level.
• Toddlers and pre-school children have very good opportunities to learn outdoors. They enjoy imaginative play, large construction and riding on wheeled toys. However, staff working with babies do not always plan their outdoor learning experiences to maximise babies' physical skills and exploration.
• Staff have frequent opportunities to improve their knowledge and skills. There is an effective programme of professional development and good mentoring arrangements to support staff's ongoing growth in their roles. This contributes positively to staff's well-being and their commitment to their work.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review staff deployment and routines during the staff lunchtime period in order to meet the learning needs of children in a more consistent way
• build on the interactions of staff working with babies in order to further extend babies' language skills and learning, to help them make the best possible progress
• review the babies' outdoor learning space to enhance opportunities to develop their physical skills and promote their overall learning outdoors.