Children 1st @ Wragby Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show close attachments with staff, showing that they feel safe and secure in their care. For example, when older children arrive, they greet staff by name and hold out their arms to receive a cuddle. Children sit on staff's knee and beside them to listen to stories, supporting children to follow their interests in books.

Children learn about different languages and cultures from around the world. For example, older children copy staff as they count in Spanish. Children develop their knowledge of traditions from other countries, such as China. Staff use key words in children's home languages, as well as English, when introducing the routines of the day. This helps children who speak English as an additional language with their language skills and understanding. Additional funding that some children receive is spent effectively to meet their individual needs. For example, additional resources are purchased for the garden to encourage children to develop their physical skills outdoors. When children play in the garden, staff ask them to use magnifying glasses and work as a team to look for insects, encouraging them to explore and investigate their surroundings. Staff help children to develop their knowledge of spiders. Children learn what spiders eat and that spider webs are strong.

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

• Staff's curriculum to support children's speaking skills includes, for example, introducing plenty of songs and rhymes to children's play. For instance, younger children listen to staff sing songs and then begin to copy the actions to rhymes. Older children hold cardboard tubes to their mouths and confidently sing songs through the tubes by themselves.
• The management team and staff work closely with other professionals to support children with individual needs. They identify and implement targets to support children's learning, such as to help develop their social skills and interactions with others.
• Children are encouraged to be independent, learning skills for the future. For example, at lunchtime, older children serve their own food, managing portion sizes. Children who are learning to pour their own drinks are supported by staff to understand quantity and measure. For example, when children pour water from a jug, staff say, 'One, two, stop,' reminding children when to stop pouring.
• Children are keen to join activities that staff plan for them. They have opportunities to learn about the benefits of food on their bodies. For example, staff talk to older children and help them learn that fruit contains vitamins that help to make their bodies strong. However, occasionally during planned activities, staff do not fully support older children to take turns in conversations and to listen to the views of others.
• Staff develop strong relationships with parents. They invite parents to attend stay-and-play sessions and parents' meetings to play alongside their children and discuss with staff their child's development. Staff support parents to continue their children's learning at home, such as to nurture their love of books. Children show that they take home books regularly from the nursery, bringing them back in the morning and placing them in the allocated space.
• Staff have rules and boundaries in place that children understand. Children say that they need to remember to use walking feet and inside voices. Younger children are supported to learn how to share. For example, they take it in turns when they pretend to pay staff for a current bun.
• Staff are supported to reflect on their practice and the experiences they offer children. However, some knowledge that staff gain from professional development is not fully implemented when planning activities to help develop younger children's learning.
• Staff help children to learn how to manage some of their health needs, such as if they have minor accidents. For example, children learn how to administer basic first aid. They develop their knowledge of how to apply bandages and clean a wound. Children show visitors a cool first-aid pack and explain they use this if they fall down.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help older children to learn how to take turns in conversations and listen to the views of others
• support staff to implement knowledge from professional development when they plan activities to help raise learning opportunities for younger children even higher.