Daisy Chain Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children excitedly explore their nursery. They snuggle up with staff to hear and sing nursery rhymes with excitement and joy. Babies confidently sing sections of songs and fill the missing words in of nursery rhymes. This supports babies to extend their language skills. Music is heard throughout the nursery. Staff encourage children to play instruments and sing Christmas songs for their performance for parents and carers. This builds children's confidence and creativity. Parents and carers are highly complimentary about the service the nursery provides. They comment on the support that staff give their children to help their transition into nursery. Staff develop children's personal skills, ensuring that they feel safe and secure. Parents appreciate the communication from staff during handover times. They enjoy the photos and observations that staff share on an online app. This helps them to extend their children's learning at home.

Staff place a focus on children being physically active in the curriculum. Children have opportunities to develop their fine motor skills, such as through the use of dough and sensory trays. They enjoy daily outdoor access to the playground. Staff use these visits to develop children's gross motor skills, such as through running, climbing and balancing. Children engage well, independently or supported by staff. Toddlers say the noises animals make, while other children build towers and persevere when their tower is knocked down. Older children focus on making creations out of dough or cut up real vegetables to make soup for staff. Children feel safe and secure, having fun as they learn.

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

• Staff are enthusiastic and read to children with energy and excitement. This encourages children to love stories. Children bring books to staff to read, showing their love for books. This supports children's communication and language development, which is a focus in the nursery.
• Staff share children's next steps in learning with parents and have a thorough knowledge of the curriculum they provide. They share ideas with parents of how to continue their children's learning at home. This ensures that parents are fully involved and children are supported with further learning.
• Staff have clear plans for activities. However, staff do not consistently take account of these when interacting with children. For example, they do not consistently expand children's learning during activities or explain the new vocabulary they use.
• Staff are knowledgeable about how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work in partnership with external professionals and uses targets in the setting. Staff use funding well to support children's needs. They use smaller steps to support children who require additional support to make progress. There are high expectations for the learning of children with SEND.
• Children feel safe and secure with staff. They enjoy their company and have fun, such as they laugh and spend time creating crafts together. Children use tools, such as scissors, which supports their fine motor development. They use pincer grip as they pick stickers to use on their creations.
• Staff promote children's independence skills as they guide children. They encourage children to serve themselves at lunchtime and pour their own water. Toddlers collect their comforters independently.
• Leaders engage with the local community, raising funds for local charities. This helps children to learn about helping others in the community. Staff work with the local schools on transitions to ensure that children move comfortably between settings. Parents are encouraged to be involved and invited to events, such as sports day. Children build their understanding of the world.
• Leaders include parents and children in the evaluation of the nursery. Children attend a nursery council to make decisions about the future of the nursery. Parents complete questionnaires regularly to give feedback about the practice at the nursery.
• Children have a variety of experiences while at the nursery. They have the opportunity to visit the local church to perform their own nativity to parents and carers. Children enjoy taking part in sports sessions with a football coach. They learn about other languages from the Spanish teacher, who shares how to speak in Spanish. Children enjoy weekly singing sessions with a music teacher. This helps children to learn about their community and broadens their life experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement what staff want children to learn more consistently during activities, to extend children's knowledge and understanding further.