Crowmoor Day Nursery And Out Of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have fun and enjoy their time in this welcoming nursery. They develop strong attachments with their key person and staff, which helps children to feel safe, secure and ready to learn. Children happily play with their peers. They learn to share, take turns and use their manners with gentle reminders from the caring staff. Children become immersed in their play and make independent choices on what they would like to do. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. They enjoy a good balance of child-initiated play and adult-led activities. Children enjoy using their imagination. They have lots of fun exploring the texture of sand with their bare feet, as they pretend to be at the beach.

Children receive lots of encouragement and praise for their efforts and achievements, which helps to boost their self-esteem and self-confidence. Children are provided with opportunities to learn good independence skills. For example, older children competently serve their own lunch and concentrate as they carefully pour their own milk from jugs. Children begin to develop an awareness of the diverse world in which they live. Throughout the year, they learn about festivals and cultures that are different from their own. Children's own diverse backgrounds, traditions and special occasions are shared and celebrated. Children take part in planned outings in the local community, such as visiting the local park, library and the village church.

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

• The dedicated manager has worked closely with local authority advisers to implement changes. As a result, she has addressed all the actions raised at the last inspection and has made effective and significant improvements to the service she provides.
• The manager regularly observes staff practice and provides feedback on their strengths and areas they can improve. Staff benefit from regular supervisions and receive targeted support and/or training to help raise the quality of practice. Staff work well together as a cohesive team. They share ideas and information about children throughout the session.
• The manager and staff communicate daily with parents, both verbally and through an online learning journey. Parents are kept informed on the progress their children make and on their next steps in their learning. However, the manager does not actively seek feedback from parents to further enhance the evaluation process, which helps to identify strengths and areas for further development.
• Staff know the children well and have a good understanding of how they learn. They plan enjoyable sequenced activities that are based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. Staff are quick to identify any gaps in children's learning. They use effective strategies that help children reach their targets and receive the support they need.
• Overall, staff help children to develop good communication and language skills. They read stories with enthusiasm, narrate their play and introduce new words. However, at times, staff are too quick to answer questions they ask the children. Therefore, children do not always have enough time to formulate their ideas and respond.
• Younger children develop their hand-to-eye coordination and fine motor skills as they scoop and pour sand into containers. They enjoy exploring different creative materials and learn colour names. Staff introduce counting and numbers as children play. For example, they help children to count the number of building blocks they have joined together by counting them one by one.
• Children have free-flow access to the garden, as well as regular access to the forest area at the host school. Children's physical skills are developing well. They use their coordination as they carefully balance on tyres and learn to jump between the stepping stones.
• Staff are thoughtful in their approach to designing the indoor environment. They arrange activities and resources that capture children's curiosity and interest. However, the same approach is not consistently applied to the outdoor areas, to enhance the learning experiences for children who prefer to play outside.
• The manager and staff have formed close links with the Reception teacher from the host school. She invites the teacher into the nursery to meet the children and shares key information, which helps to support continuity in their learning and aid smooth transitions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the evaluation process of the setting to actively seek feedback from parents, to raise the quality of the provision even further
• support staff to strengthen their interactions by giving children enough time to process their thoughts and respond to questions they are asked
• enhance the outdoor area to provide rich learning experiences for children who prefer to play outside.