Country Kids Day Nursery Spalding

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to come into this warm and friendly nursery. They are well cared for, and staff take the time to get to know the children they look after. Children have warm attachments to each other. They help each other to get dressed in their wet-weather clothing, having a go in pairs to do up tricky zips, ready to go outside. Children kindly take turns to help the cook to serve the vegetables for lunch and use good manners as they pass the spoon to their friends.

Children develop their physical skills while making circle shapes in the sand with their spades, imagining they are drawing planets. They confidently use mathematical language to describe and compare the size of the circles they make. Children follow the staff's lead and go on a space hunt, finding items they need to go into space. They imagine putting on their astronaut's helmet, space boots and suits as they pretend to navigate the moon outside. Staff support young toddlers to create tall rockets, practising building them before knocking them over. Children giggle and clap with delight as the blocks fall to the floor and they have to rebuild the rocket once again.

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

• The manager has a clear intent of what she wants children to learn and be able to do at the nursery. The curriculum is well sequenced and builds on what children know and can already do. Staff ensure children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Staff liaise closely with external agencies to ensure the curriculum focuses on what children need to know next. Children are well prepared to move through the nursery and on to school.
• Books play an integral part in the nursery curriculum. Staff plan the stories they will read to children as part of the curriculum on offer. Older children confidently share a familiar story with staff. They enthusiastically use props to help share what happens next. However, during large-group story time, staff do not recognise when younger children struggle to remain engaged and occasionally lose focus.
• Staff plan for children's physical development well. Older children are encouraged to independently wash their hands and remove their outdoor clothes after being outside. Younger children enjoy dancing to music with scarves. They wiggle and twist their bodies in time to the beat, moving their whole body enthusiastically.
• Staff prioritise developing children's language and communication skills. They introduce new words to children and encourage them to practise using these new words during their play. For example, children confidently describe the 'crater in the moon' they make with tools in the play dough. Staff plan for the language they would like children to know from the topic they are learning about.
• Parents speak highly about the nursery. They report that the staff work in close partnership with them. If children need additional support, the staff provide activities and ideas for how parents can help at home. Parents particularly welcome the helpful advice they receive on child development, such as toilet training and sleep routines.
• Children in the nursery behave well. They take turns pushing each other in the wheelbarrow. Children work together to navigate obstacles outside and enjoy working in pairs without staff support. They are polite to each other and demonstrate good manners.
• The manager offers support to staff through regular supervision sessions and holds regular team meetings. Staff share they feel well supported and can discuss aspects of their work and personal lives with the manager. This helps staff and the manager identify areas of strength and areas for improvement, which supports them develop their practice with children. However, some less experienced staff members need further guidance on planning appropriate activities to focus on what they want children to learn.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and carefully plan story time for younger children so that they can remain engaged and focused
• support less experienced staff to carefully plan activities to link to what they want children to know and learn next.