Child 1st (Coleshill) Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and content in the nursery. This is because staff know them well and are warm and show genuine concern for them. Children seek out staff for cuddles and comfort, which staff give in abundance. In the majority, staff arrange the learning environments to meet the needs of children. For example, babies use the space to practise their walking skills, while younger babies practise pulling themselves to standing by using nearby furniture that is well placed. Staff provide toddlers and pre-school children a choice from a range of tools and creative resources for themselves. This enables them to lead their own learning and continue to practise new skills, such as how to use scissors and other one-handed tools.

Children behave well. They respond well to staff reminders to take turns. Staff use methods of discussion with all children and consider their level of understanding. This helps children, including those in need of additional support, to learn how their behaviour can affect others and the behaviours that are expected of them. Children have fun and show positive attitudes to learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, gain the knowledge and understanding they need to prepare them for their next stages in learning and the eventual move on to school.

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

• Leaders and managers have a clear intent for what they want children to learn during their time at the nursery. Staff plan to provide the experiences that children need to build on their knowledge and skills. They gather information about learning from parents when children first start. However, this information is not yet used to more sharply focus the plans for children's learning from the outset.
• Staff promote speech and language effectively. They use regular stories and familiar songs and rhymes with all children to enjoy. This includes in other home languages for children who speak English as an additional language. Staff ask questions during conversations, which help children to think and respond with their ideas. This helps staff to know what children understand.
• Children develop increasing independence. For example, babies feed themselves by using appropriate cutlery, and toddlers learn to manage their personal care needs and wash their hands correctly. The oldest children serve their own meals at lunchtime by using utensils that are an appropriate size for them to manage. Children receive lots of praise for their efforts and achievements, which helps to raise their self-confidence and self-esteem.
• Toddlers have lots of fun in the outdoor area. They share bicycles together and giggle as they ride past staff. They giggle even more when staff respond with humour. Other children develop their skills to balance and climb. Staff support the youngest children with where to place their feet to enable them to climb to the top of a frame.
• Pre-school children work together to set up some activities for themselves in the outdoor space. For example, they use their problem-solving skills and put together frames and pipes to make ramps to roll their balls down. However, areas of this outdoor space are not as well maintained as some resources are not easily accessible for children to continue their play and learning.
• Children have opportunities to develop their mathematical knowledge and vocabulary. For example, the oldest children count circular disks and begin to recognise the numerals that represent these. Staff help children to arrange the discs into size order and place them onto a rod.
• Children have fun while being creative with natural autumnal objects that they have collected. They recall and name the objects and their colours. Children develop smaller muscles in their hands. For example, staff help children hold and control scissors to make snips in string or leaves. Staff include safety messages so that children learn how to hold the scissors when they are not being used.
• Managers ensure that staff receive the support they need to continue their professional development. Staff have regular opportunities to discuss the quality of their teaching practice and are encouraged to take ownership of their learning and seek out additional training and professional development opportunities for themselves.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They say that staff are kind and nurturing towards children. Parents say that their children are developing well and that they are happy with the information they receive about their child's care and learning on collection and with the information they can access online.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the use of the information gathered from parents when children first start to focus more sharply on the plans for children's learning when they begin to attend
• maintain and monitor all areas of the outdoor environment effectively to ensure that children can access the play resources they need to continue their play and learning.