Corinthian Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel happy and secure in the nursery and are supported by caring staff who know them well. An effective key-person system ensures individual needs are consistently met. Staff respond intuitively to babies' cues, such as recognising when they are tired or need a bottle. This helps them settle quickly and comfortably. Settling-in visits are carefully planned with parents and tailored to each child, acknowledging that some take longer to settle. This approach helps children develop a strong sense of belonging.

Staff create an environment that supports all children's needs and, overall, promotes strong progress in their learning and development. Children actively engage in play, exploration and discovery, benefiting from resources and activities that spark their imagination. For example, role play encourages children to act out real-life scenarios, supporting social skills, language and creativity. Staff model positive behaviour and praise children, boosting self-esteem. Children demonstrate good behaviour, with older children showing care for their younger peers. Overall, children make good progress and are well prepared for school.

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

• Staff ensure children with special educational needs and/or disabilities learn alongside their peers. Tailored plans support children's needs and help reduce gaps in learning. Staff actively collaborate with a wide range of professionals. Funding effectively supports positive outcomes. They also build strong partnerships with local schools to ensure smooth transitions and continued support as children move on to the next stage of their education.
• Staff support children's early mathematics skills from a young age. Babies enjoy number rhymes, with staff showing numbers on their fingers. Older children use words such as 'bigger' and 'smaller' as they build towers with blocks, using their imagination to create buildings and structures. This helps build a strong foundation for their future learning.
• Staff support children's physical development effectively by encouraging activities that strengthen both large and small muscles. For instance, babies develop core strength by using seesaws, while older children enhance their hand-eye coordination through creative tasks, such as making rainbows with paintbrushes and glue sticks. This targeted approach helps children build essential physical skills, contributing to their overall development.
• Leaders monitor staff performance, highlighting both strengths and areas needing improvement. They carefully plan training to address development needs and actively pursue new learning opportunities that benefit children most. Staff feel well supported, with leaders placing a strong emphasis on promoting well-being and mental health.
• The nursery works well in partnership with parents. Parents value the support and information they receive from the nursery. Staff are dedicated to getting to know the whole family to ensure they have a holistic view of their child. This helps staff to understand how they can support children and families at home and helps to address any concerns at an early stage.
• Staff engage children in meaningful conversations, introducing new vocabulary such as 'up the stairs' and 'down the slide' during play, supporting language development. However, dummies are used frequently by children and staff do not consistently respond to this reliance. This sometimes hinders children's communication and language development, limiting opportunities to support their emerging language skills.
• Staff plan the curriculum thoughtfully to meet children's individual needs and next steps, which helps most children remain focused and engaged in their play and learning. Mathematical concepts are regularly promoted through everyday interactions, supporting children's early understanding of number. However, some activities are not always appropriately matched to babies' developmental stages. At times, staff's expectations are too ambitious, while in other instances, there is not enough challenge. This means that, at times, babies do not consistently make the progress they are capable of.
• Children benefit from healthy, nutritionally balanced vegetarian meals that are freshly prepared on site. Staff support children to develop independence, make healthy choices and enjoy eating with others. Allergies are managed carefully through the use of colour-coded plates, ensuring individual dietary needs are met. However, mealtime routines are not always well organised. For example, babies wait too long before food is served. This leads to frustration and unsettled behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to monitor the use of dummies and promote children's developing speech
• strengthen implementation of the curriculum so teaching for the youngest children builds on what they know and improves the quality of education further
• enhance the organisation of mealtime routines to reduce waiting times and make even better use of opportunities for play and learning, particularly for babies.