Central Park Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into the nursery by kind and caring staff. There is a calm and happy atmosphere at this nursery. Children separate confidently from parents and enter the nursery with a smile on their face. They confidently choose the activities they want to join in with from the well-resourced environment. Babies demonstrate high levels of natural curiosity as they explore electronic toys, pushing the various buttons to activate the sounds and music. Toddlers are imaginative. They make pretend cups of tea for visitors and staff. Pre-school children develop their creative skills as they use play dough to mould their chosen shapes. Children of all ages enjoy listening to stories individually and in larger groups. They develop a love of books, joining in with turning the pages and recalling rhyming words from familiar stories.

Children behave well and play cooperatively with their friends. Staff use frequent praise and encouragement that children respond well to. This helps to build on children's self-esteem and confidence. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. Children are gaining the skills they need to help prepare them for their eventual move to school.

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

• The quality of teaching is good. Staff provide children with a broad curriculum that is well sequenced and ambitious for all children. Activities and experiences are based on children's individual interests and needs. They provide a good balance of adult-led and free-play experiences.
• Children develop good communication and language skills. From an early age, they are supported to engage with stories, songs and rhymes. Staff help to extend on children's developing language skills, introducing new words as they play. Older children are encouraged to express their thoughts and ideas during group times. Younger children confidently babble, and staff respond well to this, encouraging them to experiment with emerging words.
• Children benefit from healthy and nutritious meals and snacks that take account of their individual dietary needs and preferences. Children's good health is promoted through good hygiene routines. They understand the importance of washing their hands before eating and after using the toilet.
• Staff reinforce the rules of the setting, offering children gentle and age-appropriate reminders. For example, when children want to go down the slide, staff remind them that they need to wait until the child in front of them has moved away, explaining to them the reasons why they need to do this. This helps children to learn the rules of good behaviour.
• Parents express their complete satisfaction with the nursery. They say that staff know their children exceptionally well. Parents are pleased that their children are happy and settled at the nursery. They receive daily updates about their children's routines and activities taken part in. However, plans for children's next steps in learning could be more frequently shared with parents to help them to continue to support children's learning at home.
• Managers are reflective and regularly identify further ways to build on their provision. They have identified a current focus for future development to enhance the learning opportunities for children in the outdoor environment. This is particularly relevant to younger children's experiences to ensure they have an equally wide range of experiences outdoors.
• Staff work well with other professionals and parents to ensure children with SEND benefit from targeted support. This helps children to make good progress from their starting points and ensures that their individual needs are met effectively.
• Staff benefit from ongoing support and regular supervision sessions from managers. They express how well supported they are by managers. Staff appreciate opportunities for further training to enhance their professional development and build on their good skills. This helps to improve the overall outcomes for children attending the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• share children's next steps in learning with parents more frequently, to help parents extend children's learning at home
• build further on opportunities for babies to extend their play and learning experiences outdoors.