Childcare4u

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and have fun playing in a warm, welcoming and child friendly environment. Staff are kind and caring, offer a nurturing and inclusive nursery, which in turn helps children to be confident and feel secure. Children enjoy the activities on offer and show a positive attitude to their learning.

Staff are deployed well to meet the needs of the children. They plan and implement a well-sequenced curriculum for the children to support their learning well. This encompasses children's interests and maximises their learning to help them make effective and continuous progress. Staff ensure children have regular opportunities to play inside and outside. For instance, younger children enjoy exploring with paints and older children have fun as they recreate their learning about people that help us as they play road safety games.

Staff support children's early communication skills well. For example, babies enjoy songs sang to them with enthusiasm. Toddlers and pre-school children sit with staff and listen attentively while stories are read to them. Staff support children's understanding of behaviours. They teach children about kindness and how to share and take turns. Staff provide consistent praise to the children, and they act as positive role models.

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

• The newly appointed management team work well together to create a happy and harmonious nursery. They are dedicated to improving outcomes for children and giving all children the best start in life. The management team have worked hard with the nursery staff to drive change and have a clear vision for the nursery's future.
• Staff benefit from regular meetings, and well-being reviews. This enables them opportunities to reflect on their performance. The management team offers regular feedback to the staff and spends time in the rooms modelling teaching. However, coaching and mentoring is not fully embedded to help staff recognise and raise their own practice and personal effectiveness to an even higher level. Despite this, staff benefit from regular training.
• Children show focus and concentration as they explore. They all have regular opportunities to play and exercise outside in the fresh air, where they ride on wheeled toys and build with construction. Children have fun opportunities to develop their physical skills and coordination. For example, they benefit from yoga and sport sessions, which helps them to develop their dexterity for moving their bodies in different ways.
• The children benefit from a stimulating base room, which provide spaces for them to be active or calm as needed. Staff support children's concentration skills well. For instance, children of all ages spend a long-time filling and emptying containers with sand or water, while others hunt for 'animals' hiding in the leaves and foam.
• Staff help children to learn and understand the importance of washing their hands before and after eating. This supports them to develop good health and hygiene routines. Children enjoy the food that is offered to them. However, the mealtime routines in some rooms are not seamless, which means expected practices are not always maintained. Nevertheless, children eat together well.
• Children behave well, are polite and helpful. They follow simple instructions and are learning skills to be independent. For instance, babies and toddlers make choices about what they would like to play with, and pre-school children help to get their plates and cutlery ahead of lunchtime.
• The management team and staff work in good partnership with parents to promote continuity in children's care and learning. Parental comments are positive and include high praise for the staff and the learning that their children receive. Parents have a good amount of information available to them, both online and through verbal discussions.
• The nursery's special educational needs coordinator is confident in her role and responsibilities. She understands the importance to work closely with the children, key persons, parents, and relevant agencies to ensure that children receive the support and timely interventions to meet their developmental needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed the newly implemented staff coaching and mentoring arrangements, so that children have access to teaching of the highest quality
• review mealtimes to ensure there is a fully consistent approach to promoting children's good health.