Creative Days Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excited to start their day. They develop warm relationships with kind and caring staff at this family-run nursery. Children show that they feel safe and secure as they put their belongings away and seek out activities. They know what is expected of them. Staff have high expectations for their behaviour and teach them the importance of good manners, sharing and turn-taking. Children help to tidy up and listen carefully to staff when they speak.

Staff in the baby room are attentive, flexible and caring. They are skilled in developing the youngest children's communication. Babies enjoy songs, rhymes and stories to help enhance their communication and language. Staff introduce babies to new words, repeating and increasing pitch and tone and using exaggerated mouth movements. This successfully encourages young children's motivation to copy and broadens their vocabulary.

Staff support children to learn mathematical concepts as they play. As they make dough, staff support younger children to count the cups of flour that they need. Older children look at numbers as they measure the water in the jug. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'ingredients' and 'combine', when they stir the dough. Children remember what they have learned and transfer this new knowledge as they play in the mud kitchen outside. Children are well prepared for the next stage in their development.

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

• Senior leaders generally plan a balanced curriculum that builds on children's existing skills. They consider what children already know and how this can be extended as they transition through the nursery. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their starting points. Senior leaders work closely with other professionals to implement individual support plans for children who need them. This helps to ensure that children who are at risk of falling behind receive swift intervention.
• Staff plan a range of adult-led activities and learning experiences, across all areas of the curriculum, to support children's good progress. For instance, younger children learn to post shapes into the correct holes as they gain good hand-eye coordination skills. However, staff do not always plan the environment effectively for times when children choose their own play. Some staff do not explore how they can use experiences to continue to focus and challenge children's learning even further.
• Staff provide activities that help children to develop the muscles in their arms through making large movements. For example, older children use paintbrushes with water to make marks on the wall outdoors. Staff narrate to children about what they are drawing, giving meaning to the marks they make. This helps children to develop some of the skills they need for school.
• The on-site chef prepares healthy, nutritious and home-cooked meals. She gives guidance to parents to promote healthy lifestyles and good oral hygiene. Staff support children of all ages to develop their independence with self-help skills. Babies learn to feed themselves with a spoon. Younger children progress to a fork and self-serve their drinks. Older children continue to develop these skills and keenly serve themselves and others during mealtimes.
• Senior leaders understand how the COVID-19 pandemic has had an impact on children's development and learning. They recognise that children need additional support to regulate their feelings and emotions. Staff have been supported with recent training to further understand children's development and behaviour. Staff have implemented further opportunities for children to explore their feelings through books and stories.
• Children demonstrate an enjoyment of books and reading. Staff encourage them to access a wide variety of books and help children to bring these to life. For instance, children read a favourite traditional story and then plant beans to see if they can grow a beanstalk. They retell the story and invent their own ending, showing their imaginations.
• Parents speak very highly of the nursery. They comment that their children are confident, independent and developing well. Staff regularly observe and assess children's progress. They share information effectively with parents about their children's care needs, activities and progress in their learning. Staff encourage parents to share their children's learning from home. This helps to provide continuity in children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to further extend children's play and make the most of all opportunities to fully promote children's learning.