Clever Clogs Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make a strong start to their learning and are supported by warm, nurturing staff. Babies are helped to build strong bonds with the staff who care for them, and they settle smoothly into nursery life. Children make good progress overall and are well prepared for the next stage of their learning, including starting school. Staff use their knowledge of children's interests and abilities well to systematically develop their skills and understanding. For instance, babies learn to develop their fine hand movements as they squeeze and squash play dough. Older children confidently use knives when they cut fruit in their kitchen role play or spread butter on their crackers at snack time. These skills lay the foundations for their later writing experiences.

Staff help children to feel safe and behave well. Children rise to the high expectations of the staff. For instance, children politely give instructions to each other as they put on their hard hats and work together to join large ramps and blocks in their construction play. Babies explore their environment indoors and outdoors safely. For example, they learn to climb up and down the nursery stairs with increasing confidence. Parents are very appreciative of the positive impact staff have on their children's independence, confidence and social skills.

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

• Staff plan well overall to help children build sequentially on their previous learning, particularly for their communication, personal and physical skills. Leaders and staff have precise expectations for children's development at each stage of their learning. However, the planning is not as sharply developed for mathematics. As a result, staff do not finely match activities to children's learning needs. For example, they do not fully support them to understand that quantities can be matched to numbers, or the properties of shapes.
• The nursery strongly supports children with SEND and disadvantaged learners. They identify gaps in children's learning and development at an early stage. Leaders are very proactive in working with parents to ensure children receive the highest levels of support. They make good use of their staff's many skills, partnerships with other professionals, such as speech therapists, and the use of additional funding to prepare children well for their further learning.
• Staff's engagement with children is positive and supportive overall. They join in with children's role play and other activities and are expressive, gentle and clear. However, they do not consistently make full use of interactions with children to extend and deepen learning. For instance, they do not use a wide range of questions to fully explore children's ideas.
• Staff place the development of children's language and enjoyment of books and songs at the centre of much of their learning. They support children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to enjoy a carefully considered range of fiction and non-fiction that introduces them to exciting new vocabulary and experiences. Staff regularly read stories such as the 'Bumble Bear' in highly engaging ways, which builds children's concentration and anticipation and leaves them with memorable words and phrases.
• Staff promote children's good behaviour and personal development well. Staff successfully encourage children to say 'please' and 'thank you' throughout their play and healthy snack times. They support children to make decisions and persist in activities. They skilfully help children who find it hard to manage their emotions to learn to play with others and control their behaviour.
• Leaders are ambitious to ensure all children leave the nursery as happy, confident and eager learners. They are well-qualified and are strong role models to staff and children. They support staff's professional development well. Staff are passionate about their roles and work well as a team, sharing their training and experiences. There is very low turnover of staff and morale is high.
• Parents recommend the nursery very strongly. They appreciate the warm and sensitive nature of all staff and the positive contribution they make to children's social and personal development. Those who have children with SEND comment particularly on the high level of support support they receive to help them understand and support learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum for mathematics to ensure that activities are matched to children's learning needs in order for them to consistently extend their knowledge of mathematical concepts
• support staff to enhance their interactions with children so that they fully explore children's ideas and understanding and continually build on children's learning to help them make the best possible progress.