Daisy & Jake Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this pleasant environment. Friendly staff welcome them into the setting, where they are greeted by their key person. Children separate easily from their parents and quickly engage in the learning experiences on offer. Young babies enjoy a teddy bears picnic with their friends, while older babies explore their favourite stories. Toddlers laugh heartily as they explore materials with their hands in the messy tray. Pre-school children investigate carrots they have picked from the garden. They recall how the leaves point up to the sun to help them to grow and the roots sink into the soil to get the food they need.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and support children to learn the rules and boundaries of the setting. Children develop positive and respectful relationships with their peers, learning to share and take turns. Staff use stories to help children to learn about different emotions, which helps them to make sense of their feelings. Children develop an understanding of how to keep themselves safe by becoming 'garden detectives'. They help staff to carry out outdoor risk assessments and set up the play area for the day ahead.

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

• Leaders implement a curriculum based on children's interests and next steps. Staff use their own observations and assessments, alongside information provided by parents, to identify progress. Staff plan experiences which engage children and help them to move on to the next stage of their learning. However, staff are not always clear about the developmental expectations of the curriculum. As a result, learning is not always sequenced effectively.
• Interactions with children are positive and supportive. Staff offer lots of praise and ask questions to encourage children to think about what they are learning. However, when asking questions, staff do not always give children enough time to answer. This means children are not always given the opportunity to think about and process the information and respond.
• Leaders and staff effectively support children through periods of transition. Staff provide opportunities for children and parents to meet the new staff and visit the room. They provide a detailed handover to the new staff team, completed in partnership with the parents. Staff support children in spending quality time with their new key person to help them to build attachments. This helps to ease children through transition feeling emotionally prepared.
• Leaders and staff celebrate events and occasions that are special to the children. Babies celebrate their milestone first birthdays with a big party and a cake. Pre-school children celebrate going off to school with a graduation ceremony. Children also learn about the importance of recognising important moments in their lives and the lives of their friends. This helps them to develop respect and empathy with those around them.
• Leaders have high expectations for children's behaviour. They have effective routines and boundaries in place which help children to anticipate what is coming next. Staff support children to demonstrate positive behaviour through praise and encouragement. This helps children to feel safe and secure and to know what is expected of them.
• Leaders provide healthy meals and snacks provided by an in-house cook who caters for children's specific dietary requirements. They also teach children about the importance of keeping themselves healthy through effective hygiene practices such as handwashing and toothbrushing. This helps children to develop effective hygiene practices to keep them healthy and prevent infections.
• Leaders work effectively with parents to gather information about their child on entry. They continually communicate with parents throughout their child's time in the setting to update them on progress and achievements. Parents submit photos of places they have visited, celebrations and achievements at home. This helps to ensure a coordinated approach to children's learning.
• Following significant changes, the new leadership team has worked tirelessly over recent months. Leaders have worked closely alongside new and existing staff to build a solid foundation on which to further develop the team. Leaders show commitment to continuing and further developing staff training. This will help to ensure a high quality of teaching and learning for all children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deepen staff's understanding of the sequenced curriculum to help children to make the best progress
• support staff to develop more effective questioning techniques, allowing children more time to process and respond to questions.