Childcare@dawn to dusk

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff work with parents to help children to settle well in this welcoming nursery. They arrange visits around individual children's needs. This helps children to form close attachments with the staff and their key person. Staff have high expectations for every child. They know the children well and what they need to learn next. Children make good progress from their starting points. Children are keen to learn about the natural world. Pre-school children dig up the vegetables that they have grown, such as potatoes. Staff guide them to discover what they are like. For example, they ask children to smell them, cut them up and taste them when they have been cooked. Staff talk to children about why it is important to eat healthy foods. They explain that children need energy from the food after they have been running round. They explain to children under the age of three years that yogurt helps to grow their bones and teeth.

Staff have a nice calm manner around children. They manage children's behaviour well. Staff give lots of reminders for children to be gentle with each other. Babies are prompted to share and to be aware of others in their space. Older children are asked to use 'kind hands'. Children have high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem.

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

• The manager has a curriculum that is well thought out and planned effectively. She is very hands on, as she works closely with staff and the children. She evaluates the development of each child. She discusses children's development with staff and develops individual learning targets.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported by the manager and staff. They know these children well and understand how to meet their individual needs. They help parents to gain the support they need from other professionals, such as speech and language. This helps children to make the best possible progress.
• Children develop good language and communication skills. Staff model language well and repeat words, so children hear the correct way to say them. All children enjoy listening to stories and singing familiar rhymes. Very young children attempt to do the actions while older children do them with enthusiasm.
• Staff help children to develop their skills in mathematics. They use numbers in everyday play. Staff count spontaneously with young children during their play. Older children learn to sort items into categories. For example, they use tweezers to sort items by colour or size.
• The manager and staff work in close partnership with the on-site school and nursery. They meet every half term to discuss the progress of children that they share. Teachers visit children in the setting prior to them starting school nursery and children have visits to school. This helps teachers to get to know the children and helps children to make a smooth transition from one setting to another.
• Overall, staff ensure that children have good access to the outdoor area. Pre-school children spend most of their time in the garden, developing their movement skills. Younger children access the indoor and outdoor space. However, staff have not fully considered how children, who are less mobile, can use the garden or their own indoor space, so that it is exclusively for them and they can move around safely.
• Parents are full of praise for the nursery and its staff. They comment on the effective communication between the nursery and themselves. Also, that they are constantly being impressed by the experiences that their children receive. Parents talk about the things that children have learned since attending, including new skills, and that it is an environment that children can play and thrive in.
• The manager regularly reviews the staff's practice and guides them to improve their work with children. She tests their knowledge of how children learn and how to support them. The manager observes their practice and gives guidance on what can be done better. She uses supervisions to help identify further training needs for staff. However, some staff are less confident in utilising what they have learned effectively.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consider the learning environment indoors and outdoors, particularly for the youngest less-mobile children, to support children's development to the highest levels
• enhance the professional development of staff, so that it is highly focused on helping staff to put what they learn into practice.