Cleo's Caring Corner Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Warm, friendly, and passionate staff welcome the children into this inclusive nursery. Children enter excited and eager to play with their friends. Babies settle quickly with the support of their key persons. The staff offer the children lots of praise and reassurance, which builds their confidence and high self-esteem.

The manager and her team have clear expectations for children's learning. They focus on developing strong relationships with the children and their families. The children show that they feel safe and secure as they freely explore the stimulating and well-organised play environment. They enjoy listening to stories and joining in with nursery rhymes. During circle time, staff say 'hello' to the children in their home languages. This creates a sense of belonging and further enhances children's communication. Staff encourage the children to make predictions on the number of children attending that day. Older children evaluate their theory by counting their peers. Staff further extend this by asking them if they have more or fewer children than the day before. This develops the children's early mathematical skills.

Children enjoy a range of activities aimed at strengthening the hand muscles needed for later writing skills. They explore play dough with different tools and participate in mark-making activities to support their creativity and imagination.

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

• The knowledgeable manager and her team have created a curriculum that uses a blend of child-led play and adult-led activities. They plan these activities around the children's interests. The staff skilfully ask the children questions to determine what they know. They then extend children's learning through meaningful interactions. This means that children achieve their next steps and make clear progress from their starting points.
• The staff provide babies and young children with flexible settling-in sessions to enable them to gain confidence in new environments at their own pace. They gain detailed information from parents about the children's likes, dislikes, and development, which enables them to identify the children's starting points. The manager uses early years pupil premium funding to provide children with experiences that they may not get at home, such as music and dance sessions.
• The children take pleasure in learning about nature and the world around them. They become engaged in a seed-sowing activity. The children discuss the different colours and sizes of the seeds. The staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'soil', 'cucumber', 'pumpkin', and 'radishes'. They provide the children with opportunities to repeat these words throughout the activity. This enhances children's communication and language skills and increases their confidence in talking in larger groups.
• Staff feel valued and supported by the manager. They like working in a small team and care deeply for the children. Staff receive regular appraisal meetings where they outline their professional development plans. The manager observes staff's practice and provides them with detailed feedback. She sets clear targets to ensure that staff continue to improve their knowledge and practice.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff encourage the children to use good manners and share their resources. However, staff do not always take the time to fully explain to the children the reasons behind the rules of the setting. For example, children race around the garden on ride-on toys. They bump into others and furniture. Although staff ask them to stop, they do not reinforce this when the children continue. Therefore, at times, children are not learning how to manage their behaviour or understand how their actions may harm others.
• Parents speak highly of the staff at the setting. They receive detailed feedback about their child's day and their learning. Parents of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities praise the manager for her continued support and guidance. They appreciate the support plans that have been implemented to ensure that their children make the best possible progress.
• Older children show that they can independently put on their shoes and coats. They know the importance of washing their hands and help staff by scraping their plates at mealtimes. However, staff do not extend children's independence further. For example, at mealtimes, staff serve food to children and pour their drinks for them rather than giving them a chance to try themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that staff manage behaviour consistently to help children to enhance their understanding of why and how their behaviours affect others
• provide more opportunities for children to develop their independence.