Creative Kids

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the welcoming nursery environment. Staff gather information from parents about children's interests and plan activities they know children will enjoy. Children enjoy exploring and investigating. Older children use their imagination as they create a 'beach' with shells and toy sea creatures. Toddlers enjoy the sensory feel of shaving foam in messy play. Babies explore the texture of shredded paper.

Children develop strong attachments to staff, helping them to feel safe and secure. Babies receive lots of cuddles and attention and are happy, calm and relaxed. Children become familiar with the daily routines. They play together cooperatively and learn how to share the resources and take turns. Children are confident and friendly. They engage visitors in conversation and confidently approach them asking them for their name. Children's art creations are carefully displayed throughout the nursery, helping them to feel valued and promoting their self-esteem.

Children have daily opportunities to be active and thoroughly enjoy playing in the extensive outdoor area. They show good coordination as they climb and balance on the large play equipment. Children ride round the track on wheeled toys and learn to kick a football to one another. Older children go on outings to the local area. For example, they travel by bus to nearby shops and show acts of kindness towards others. This helps to broaden their experiences and promote their understanding of their local community.

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

• The management team and staff work hard to create a happy and engaging environment. Staff comment that their wellbeing is considered, and they feel supported. Staff are encouraged to access additional training. However, systems for monitoring staff practice and providing coaching are not fully embedded. This means staff are not consistently supported to improve their skills and raise the quality of teaching even further.
• Children's communication skills are supported well. Staff consistently narrate children's actions and label objects and toys. They interact with babies using clearly spoken single words. Older children confidently talk to staff and each other. Staff support children and families who speak English as an additional language well. They learn how to pronounce some key words to use with children and translate the daily information they share with parents into their home language.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to practise their small-muscle skills in readiness for early writing. For example, children use their hands to pull dough into pieces and pat and roll it into small balls. Older children manipulate magnetic pens with good control to draw up metal beads to create patterns and shapes.
• Staff support children's early literacy skills well. Children enjoy singing and listen attentively as staff read stories. They visit the nursery library each week to choose books to share at home. Staff display a good variety written words in the indoor and outdoor environments, helping older children to become familiar with letters and sounds.
• Staff support children's learning through a wide range of experiences reflected in planned activities and children's self-chosen play. They introduce topics and themes, helping to capture children's interest and broaden their learning. However, staff do not always have a clear understanding of what it is each child needs to know or do next. As a result, some staff do not consistently plan the most effective ways to optimise children's individual progress.
• The nursery chef provides children with healthy, freshly cooked meals and snacks. Children learn good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before eating. They are encouraged from a young age to feed themselves with cutlery, helping to promote their independence. However, lunchtime routines result in children sitting at tables for extended periods of time waiting for their lunch. As a result, children become restless.
• Parents are full of praise for the staff and managers. They say that the staff team are friendly, supportive, and approachable. Parents value the regular two-way flow of information about their children's care and experiences. They comment that staff get to know children well and ensure they support their individual needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement a more robust system of staff supervision meetings to raise the quality of teaching even further
• further develop staff's understanding of children's next steps to ensure the best possible progress
• revise the organisation of mealtime routines to reduce the time children wait for food.