Crescent Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build good relationships with children and know their likes and dislikes. Children are happy in the setting and engaged in their play. Staff have high expectations of children and support them to make good progress in several areas of learning. Staff create opportunities for children to explore and investigate. For example, children work out how to use sponges and water to clean paint from toy cars. Staff talk about the water looking like a swamp. This supports children to test out their own ideas and to demonstrate curiosity.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are given good support. Staff identify achievable targets and work closely with children to help them make good progress in their learning and development. This helps to meet the individual needs of children who might require extra support. Staff play alongside children and have a friendly manner. Children are eager to join in with activities and demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Staff encourage children to do things for themselves, such as recognising their own picture and name so they can hang up their own coat. This helps children to be independent.

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

• Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills. They use a breadth of words when they are playing with children, such as 'squeezing' and 'sticky'. Children use the words they have learned to talk about what they are doing.
• Children are developing their gross motor skills and coordination of their bodies. They navigate an assault course that has been carefully designed by staff to help them develop their skills in balancing. This helps children to choose different ways of moving and negotiate space.
• Staff encourage children to demonstrate positive behaviours. When children display behaviours that could be improved, staff explain to them why what they did was not appropriate and how to make that behaviour better. This helps children to understand the expectations of their behaviour.
• Partnership with parents is good. Staff and parents work together so that learning in the nursery can be continued at home. This helps to create a consistent approach to meeting the learning and development needs of children.
• Staff support children to develop their social skills and to work together. Children take turns at adding ingredients to a bowl when making dough. This helps children to learn about other people's needs.
• Leaders have a good knowledge of how children learn and develop and they have a clear intent for what they want children to learn, which is shared with staff. Staff undertake training and improve their knowledge and skills. However, coaching and mentoring of staff do not focus specifically enough on how to enhance the quality of teaching. This means that, sometimes, staff's implementation of the curriculum does not fully challenge children.
• Staff create opportunities for children to engage in a wide range of experiences. For example, staff take children out to watch shows in the theatre. This helps children to extend their imagination and creative skills and develops their understanding of storytelling.
• Children are learning about the world around them. They have had visits from people who help them, such as the police and firefighters. This helps children to learn about different occupations and creates an interest in the lives of others.
• Staff support children to use tools with increasing control. Children are able to use the strength in their fingers to make snips with scissors. This aids children to develop their fine motor skills, which prepares them for early writing.
• Staff encourage children to use their mathematical knowledge during their play. For example, they each count two spoons of flour as they add them to a bowl. This supports children to use their counting skills for a purpose.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen coaching and mentoring practices to further improve the quality of teaching to consistently implement the planned curriculum.