Channings Childcare Ltd Werneth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and excited to explore in this inviting and nurturing nursery. They benefit from the secure attachments they build with staff. For example, they arrive at nursery with big smiles and are greeted with cuddles from their key person. This helps children to feel safe and excited for the day ahead.

Staff are positive role models and have high expectations of children's behaviour. They model positive interactions, which helps children to solve problems. For example, younger children explore with staff how the trains can stick together by using the magnets. Additionally, staff support children with the expectations of behaviour. They model how to look after the environment and help the children to tidy up the resources when they are finished playing. Staff positively praise children's achievements and efforts. This all helps to build children's confidence and grow positive attitudes towards their learning.

Children benefit from a curriculum which enhances their independence skills. For example, older children can pour their own water and use cutlery to cut up their food. Younger children can wipe their own noses and wash their own hands. This supports children's growing understanding of good personal hygiene skills.

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

• Leaders have built a clear curriculum which focuses on the skills they want children to achieve. Additionally, staff provide activities to implement the curriculum. However, staff are unclear on the specific intent of the learning opportunities they provide. As a result, children's individual next steps are not always fully supported and some children become disengaged.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. Leaders and staff collaborate with external professionals to support the individual needs of children. Therefore, gaps in learning close quickly and children continue to make good progress.
• Leaders place a high priority on staff's well-being. They ensure staff receive regular supervisions and attend training to support their continuous professional development. However, on some occasions, staff cannot recall the training they have attended and leaders are not always analysing the impact of the training. As a result, there are inconsistencies in the quality of teaching.
• Parent partnerships are a strength of this nursery. Parents have built relationships with their child's key person and they receive regular updates on their child's development. In addition, they receive information on how to support their child's learning. This helps parents to further understand how to support learning at home.
• Staff discuss the importance of building children's communication and language skills. They introduce key words into all areas of learning. For example, they support children with key words such as 'soft', 'fill' and 'pour' as they scoop the sand with their hands. This helps to extend children's growing vocabulary.
• Children are confident in the environment they explore. Singing and reading are a core part of the curriculum. For example, younger children sit and sing their favourite songs independently while smiling and clapping along. Older children listen carefully at group time to a story which is read by staff with an enthusiastic tone. Consequently, this supports children's early literacy skills.
• Staff promote making healthy choices. Throughout the day, they provide children with a range of nutritious meals. Additionally, at snack time, children have an opportunity to choose which fruit they would like to eat. Staff discuss with the children how fruit is healthy for our bodies. This supports children to understand the importance of healthy lifestyles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to identify children's next steps in learning and incorporate these into children's learning experiences to help them build skills cumulatively and coherently over time
• refine systems for monitoring the impact of staff training and consider how staff can share new knowledge with the team to continuously improve practice.