Channings Childcare Ltd Kingsway

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy a range of exciting opportunities at this welcoming and vibrant nursery. Staff plan activities to cover all areas of learning. Younger children enjoy exploring interesting resources in the sensory area. They build with irregular shapes and spend time concentrating as they balance a tower. Children squeal with excitement as the towers eventually fall down. This helps to build on children's determination and resilience. Older children carefully thread strips of material through small holes to create a pattern. They practise writing their names as they arrive at nursery and form some recognisable letters. The curriculum is sequenced well to ensure that children are developing the skills they need for their next stage in learning.

Children's behaviour is good in relation to their age. They are confident and self-assured, overall. Older children greet visitors with friendly smiles and welcome them into their room. They comment that 'we have to be kind to each other', showing a good understanding of the rules and boundaries. Younger children follow routines well. They access tissues to wipe their nose and listen when staff remind them to wash their hands afterwards. Staff teach children to take manageable risks. For example, children capably balance on a beam in the garden. They serve their own meals and carry their plates to the table at lunch. Children are confident in their own ability and learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

• Stories and singing are a prominent feature of the curriculum. During circle time, younger children choose a prop that represents a familiar song. They join in with the actions and clap with excitement at the end. This helps to promote children's listening and attention skills and builds confidence in a small group. Older children enjoy listening to familiar stories. They join in recalling what happens and independently tell the story with friends.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language (EAL) to understand and use English. For example, they use familiar objects, such as a nappy, to help children to understand new words. However, staff do not consistently provide opportunities for children to use and develop their home language in the nursery.
• Effective use of additional funding helps to target gaps in children's learning. For example, leaders spent additional funding on communication and language training for staff. Staff provide targeted sessions that children enjoy to enhance their communication skills. This has a positive impact on children's outcomes.
• Leaders place great emphasis on promoting staff well-being. Staff have a dedicated board, where they write positive comments about each other. They have time set aside to complete observations and assessments and comment that they feel 'valued and appreciated'. This contributes to the positive atmosphere in the nursery.
• Leaders oversee the staff's assessments of children's progress. They work together to swiftly identify any gaps in children's learning or potential developmental delays. The senior special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) supports staff to implement specific programmes of learning for each child. Prompt referrals to outside agencies are made, if required. All children are making good progress.
• Children go outside in all weathers and have plenty of fresh air and exercise. Younger children are excited as they clamber into a multi-seated pram ready to go on a local outing. Children enjoy healthy meals and access water to stay hydrated. Staff provide good levels of support for children's physical health and well-being.
• Staff gather and share a wealth of information with parents about children's progress. Parents send in photographs of children at home. This provides staff with an insight to children's overall experiences. Parents are complimentary about the nursery, they comment that staff 'are amazing and go the extra mile'.
• Overall, staff are kind and attentive and the key-person system is effective. However, leaders do not always identify where there are differences between what they intend for children to experience and what staff actually provide. For instance, staff do not always implement the intended curriculum for new children to help to support their emotions from the start. This means that, at times, some children do not benefit from the extra support they need to settle as quickly as they could.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide consistent opportunities for children who speak EAL to hear and use their home language to help develop their speaking skills even further
• monitor staff practice even more closely, to support them to implement the intended curriculum consistently for new children.