Country Kids Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have positive relationships with staff and their peers. For example, outdoors children laugh when they hold onto staffs' hands to chase other children. Children play cooperatively with their friends. They learn to take turns when staff ask them at group times to find their names on a board. Children are keen to take part and are confident to stand up in front of others to identify their name. Children learn how to keep themselves safe, for example in the event of a fire in the building. They recognise the fire alarm on the wall and tell staff that they need to go outside if they hear a loud noise.

Children show a willingness to help staff. For instance, when routines of the day change, children thrive on the responsibility of helping to sweep the floor, wash the dishes and set out equipment. Children receive support from staff to learn new skills, such as how to use scissors. They listen and follow instructions when staff ask them to open and shut the scissors. Children learn language to describe size. For instance, when children make footprints in sand, staff ask them which is the biggest. Children reply, 'mine is the smallest'.

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

• The manager supports staff through supervision meetings. This helps staff to reflect on their practice and to identify further professional development opportunities. Recent training extends staff's knowledge of how to use sign language to communicate with children. This supports children's understanding of the words staff use and is particularly beneficial for children who speak English as an additional language.
• The manager and staff plan a curriculum that gives children the skills they need for future learning. For example, they intend for children to build their vocabulary and to communicate their needs. Staff sing plenty of nursery rhymes with children. They introduce names for objects that one-year-olds play with, such as maracas. Staff talk to children when they play alongside them. They listen to their views and value what they say.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They ensure that they have a sense of belonging in the nursery and can understand staff's instructions. For instance, they find out and use key words and phrases in children's home language when they talk to them. They provide books for children that show dual languages.
• Staff communicate frequently with parents about their children's progress and daily experiences. They support parents to continue to support their children's development at home, such as encouraging them to learn sign language. This helps to promote consistency for children between the nursery and home.
• Staff promote positive behaviour and praise children's achievements. For instance, they say, 'well done', clap their hands and give children a 'high five'. However, staff do not consistently encourage children to follow all the rules and boundaries during group times. This results in many children answering questions at the same time and not listening to their friends.
• The manager and staff place a strong focus on supporting children's social and emotional needs. When children first start attending, they are offered gradual setting in sessions. This helps them to become familiar with staff and the environment before being away from parents for long periods of time. Children develop secure attachments with their key person. Three- and four-year-old children seek out staff to join their play. Younger children go to staff for comfort and a cuddle when they are tired.
• Staff use their good knowledge of children and their home life, to provide opportunities to enhance their experiences. For instance, they provide activities for younger children to use their senses to explore different foods. Children smell, taste and feel the texture of oranges and limes. Staff ensure that children spend plenty of time in the nursery garden. Children develop their balance and coordination when, for example, they climb and walk across wooden logs. However, when staff take children on walks in the local community, they do not always enable the children who are mobile to develop their large-muscle skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently reinforce the rules and boundaries during group times, to help children to understand behavioural expectations
• develop staff's knowledge of how to enhance opportunities to help mobile children to develop their large-muscle skills.