Children 1st @ Newark Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children, including those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points in learning. Children are keen to explore and investigate in the well-resourced environment, indoors and outdoors. In the garden, pre-school children enjoy playing games with staff and their peers. They show good hand and eye coordination, when they take it in turns to throw balls into buckets. Staff encourage children to use counters to record how many balls they get into the buckets. This helps them to understand who has the most. Children are supported with their physical skills well. For instance, children in the baby room hold onto staff's hands to help them balance, promoting their safety when they begin to take their first steps. Children take a keen interest in books. They sit with staff to look at images on the pages and learn about different animals, such as a meerkat.

Children show a positive attitude to learning and celebrate their own achievements. In the baby room, children clap their hands to praise themselves when they post wooden shapes into boxes. Children in the pre-school room smile and give visitors a 'high five' when they stack bricks on top of each other.

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

• The manager and staff focus the curriculum on supporting children's communication and language skills to help close gaps in their learning. For example, staff attend in-house training, where they extend their knowledge of how to support this aspect of learning. They sing songs with children, use repetitive words and talk to children when they play alongside them. This helps to encourage children's speaking skills.
• The manager uses additional funding effectively to broaden children's experiences. For example, some children do not have opportunities to learn outdoors. So, she purchases toys such as binoculars for them to explore the world around them when they play in the garden. Children hold binoculars to their eyes, look at their friends through them and say, 'I can see you.'
• Staff help children to develop a sense of belonging in the nursery. For example, children look for photos of themselves on place mats when they sit down for meals. They look for their photo on sleep mats, so they know which one is theirs.
• Parents comment positively about their children's time in the nursery. They say that their children are learning something new every day. Parents appreciate the support staff give their children, such as to be independent.
• Staff encourage children to complete tasks by themselves. For example, children serve themselves food at lunchtime, helping them to manage portion sizes. They pour their own drinks and use cutlery to feed themselves, promoting their self- care skills.
• Staff share information with parents about their children's learning. They give them suggestions about how they can continue to support their children's learning at home, such as their speaking skills. This helps to provide a united approach to supporting children's development.
• Staff provide children in the pre-school room with regular opportunities to bake. Children listen to staff and follow instructions in a recipe. The nursery cook offers children a healthy range of snacks and meals. However, staff do not support all children to understand the importance of oral health.
• Staff give children plenty of praise for their achievements, helping to raise their self-esteem. Children in the toddler room are supported by staff to share, such as when they use tools to use with play dough. Staff model using good manners and children copy, encouraging them to be polite.
• The manager supports her staff through, for example, staff and supervision meetings. Staff say that they feel supported with their well-being and have opportunities to reflect on their interactions with children. However, occasionally, staff do not encourage children to build further on their learning. For example, when children in the baby room show how they can use rollers to make patterns and imprints on play dough, staff do not help them to build on their skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's knowledge of how to support all children to develop their understanding of the importance of oral health
• help staff to strengthen their interactions with children to help build further on their learning.