Children's Corner Childcare LLP (Bardsey)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff offer children a caring and friendly greeting. This helps children to settle on arrival and happily say goodbye to their parents before playing contentedly in the bright and welcoming nursery. Overall, staff plan effective educational programmes that help all children to make good progress and get ready for school. For example, children enjoy sociable daily routines that promote their independence. They brush their teeth to fun songs, serve the healthy lunch, pour drinks and peel fruit. Children can freely access the nursery garden, which staff have recently developed. Staff support tidy-up time through photos and labels, helping children to learn where things belong.

Three- and four-year-old children who have been attending the nursery for some time show particularly high levels of confidence and are engrossed in activities. For example, they make different concoctions in the 'potion station', showing great imaginations and language skills. Staff encourage them to smell the herbs they have been growing, such as mint, while learning about nature. Two-year-old children, including new children who are still settling in, enjoy experiencing different textures as they curiously explore tactile media, such as green rice.

Staff model and encourage important social skills. This is reflected in children's very positive behaviour and friendships. For example, boys share ideas as they work collaboratively while building with construction toys and children work together to look for hidden beans. Staff sensitively reinforce sharing and taking turns. They build on children's self-esteem and confidence through ample praise.

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

• Staff plan a broad and stimulating curriculum, especially for three- and four-year-old children, and demonstrate generally good-quality teaching. They build on children's knowledge, experiences and interests, such as a story about a boy and a beanstalk, with many follow-up activities, such as planting beans.
• After an increase in two-year-old children, staff have not fully adapted their teaching and curriculum thinking and planning. This means that some activities, care routines and interactions do not optimise younger children's learning and development.
• Staff enrich children's experiences and understanding of the world, such as through outings. For example, children go on the bus to a nursing home where they engage in singing and craft activities. Regular visitors deliver signing and story sessions, which further supports children's early communication skills.
• Through their rigorous assessments, staff swiftly identify and support children with gaps in their development. They put in place excellent early interventions, including meticulous support plans, and work in superb partnership with other professionals and parents. Staff work exceptionally closely with parents to support children's emotional well-being during changes at home, such as a new baby in the family.
• Parents share extensive information with staff in readiness for children starting nursery. Each child has a key person and they are generally well settled throughout the day. However, staff do not always recognise when their key children require more attention and support to engage in activities and build a greater attachment to them.
• Staff work in outstanding collaboration with the reception teacher to support children's transitions on to school. Once children start school, excellent partnership working continues. For example, the manager of the wraparound club plans activities that support children's individual learning targets and complement school topics.
• Staff constantly share children's progress with parents electronically and face to face. For example, they plan parent consultations, share monthly summaries and provide daily snapshot posts and photos. Staff involve parents in supporting children's learning, such as through shared initiatives, activity packs and events in the nursery. Parents speak very highly of the nursery.
• Staff encourage parents to support children's love of reading, to help reinforce language and literacy skills. For example, staff share the book of the month, which is currently a much-loved story about an alien who loves underpants. Parents read the same story and share photos which staff display.
• Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, older children skilfully use pipettes in the 'potion station' and younger children fill and pour during water play. Children confidently use exciting and challenging physical apparatus in the school playground.
• Children learn about diversity in some inspiring ways, such as by taking part in video calls with children in Malawi. However, staff do not consistently represent the diversity of children and the families who attend, within the nursery.
• Staff's qualifications, continued professional development and excellent support for their emotional well-being by leaders has an overall positive impact on practice. Staff invite parents to share their views, for instance, through questionnaires.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan and differentiate the curriculum and teaching more sharply, to take greater account of two-year-old children's individual learning needs and interests
• strengthen the key-person system, so that staff provide increased levels of support for newer children, to promote their engagement and emotional well-being further
• develop the ways in which the nursery represents the children who attend, in order to help children to feel valued and included to the highest level through opportunities to observe and celebrate their own uniqueness.