Comfort Angelz Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The leadership team, manager and staff work hard to provide a safe, welcoming and inviting nursery environment for children. Throughout the nursery, children show they are confident. They enjoy exploring their environment and the range of resources that reflect their interests. For example, babies enjoy filling and emptying in the water tray. Staff provide activities that meet children's needs. For example, they encourage pre-school children to take part in making dough. This helps children to develop their thinking skills as they predict the ingredients they need and carefully measure them out.

Children develop secure attachments with staff, resulting in them feeling safe and secure in their care. Babies seek out staff when they want comfort and reassurance, who provide this freely to them. Children behave well and are supported to learn the rules and boundaries in the nursery. If required, staff quickly intervene and teach children to consider their friends' feelings. Parents like the nursery for its welcoming feel and confirm that staff are friendly and supportive. They receive information to keep them informed about how their children are progressing. Parents trust the staff to keep their children safe, commenting that their children feel safe and loved, which gives them peace of mind.

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

• The manager is clear about what she wants children to learn. Staff provide an inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, all children make good progress from their starting points in development. The manager is committed to making ongoing improvements and supports her staff extremely well. She makes sure that staff's well-being is paramount and continually supports their professional development.
• Staff support children's literacy skills well. For example, they support older children's love of reading; they listen intently to a new story and keenly predict what might happen next. Staff encourage children's communication and language development. They verbalise babies' gestures and sounds to encourage their communication. Throughout the nursery, staff and children can be heard singing familiar rhymes and songs.
• Children build on what they know and can do. They enjoy using mathematical concepts, such as measuring and counting, in their play. When children use large bricks to build a tower together, staff support them to predict how many bricks they will need. This builds children's mathematical development, confidence and turn-taking skills.
• The nursery offers a spacious and inviting environment for children to play and learn. Children have plenty of opportunities to be outside and be physically active. They enjoy regular visits from outside sports coaches and show delight as they get ready for their next session. Children are familiar with their daily routines. However, staff do not always maximise children's learning opportunities during their daily activities. For example, during lunchtime, staff do not consistently promote children's social skills or support children to use cutlery correctly.
• Staff help children to reflect on differences through a range of cultural activities. They encourage donations of unwanted toys and equipment to send to communities in Africa. Staff teach children about communities beyond their own.
• Staff promote children's good health. They help children to learn to manage their own health and hygiene routines. For example, when children have the skills, staff encourage them to try to wipe their own noses. For the youngest children, staff are respectful; for example, they announce what they are going to do. This helps children to understand what is happening next. During nappy-changing routines, staff interact and chat to children, helping to further create secure bonds and attachments.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They feel included in their children's learning and have regular access to updates about their children's development. However, at times, they do not feel as included as they once did. Good relationships between parents and staff help children feel secure. For example, parents comment that the nursery previously held regular stay-and-play events and parents' meetings. The manager is keen to reintroduce these events.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the organisation of the daily routine to enhance the good-quality interactions and teaching
• provide further opportunities for parents to be involved in their children's learning.