Daisy Chain Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and well-established staff team provide a caring, loving environment to help children to grow and develop. They focus on providing support for the whole family through a nurturing, positive approach. Children have close bonds with staff and show that they feel happy, safe and secure in the nursery. Parents speak highly of the manager and the team. They comment on how staff have maintained effective communication, despite the challenges faced throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Staff are good role models for children and use praise to encourage their positive behaviour. Children show awareness of rules and boundaries and are kind to each other. They learn how to share and take turns.

Staff help children to build secure foundations for their future learning. They provide a wide range of experiences, indoors and outdoors, which help children to make good progress. Babies explore pasta shapes, and staff model vocabulary to them as they play. They are keen to practise new language skills and show delight as they copy new words. Toddlers develop good physical skills and staff teach them about safety as they jump off climbing frames onto mats. Older children focus and concentrate on activities they choose, such as playing imaginatively with dinosaurs and drawing family pictures.

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

• Staff gather detailed information about children's likes, dislikes and preferences. They provide visits for children who are new to the nursery and talk to parents about children's development. This helps staff to get to know children and consistently meet babies' individual care needs. For example, staff know how babies like to sleep and sing songs to them when they become upset. This is highly effective, and babies settle very quickly. Other staff know which children need help during lunch. They provide support to toddlers and praise them for trying new foods and feeding themselves.
• Children are keen to learn and show enjoyment in activities. For instance, toddlers explore foam in large trays and laugh as staff use this to point out facial features. Young children talk to staff about how they wash their car and use sponges and bubbly water to wash the ride-on car outdoors. Older children use their imaginations as they play with figures and come up with themes. The manager is currently supporting the staff to enhance their teaching even further so that it is of a consistently high quality and challenging for children. For example, she has identified times when staff miss opportunities to extend children's learning during their self-chosen play.
• Staff teach children about the importance of being healthy and safe. They encourage children to take an active part in their own self-care and become independent. For instance, young children are praised for washing their hands thoroughly and trying healthy food. Older children use bandages and scissors to pretend to wrap up staff's arms and legs after they have 'fallen and been hurt'.
• The manager uses early years pupil premium funding to support children's individual needs and close any gaps in their development. For example, the outdoor environment has been developed and enhanced to provide children with a broad curriculum if they prefer to learn outdoors. Staff provide support for children who speak English as an additional language. They have one-to-one time with staff to learn new English words, and staff gather some key words from their home language. However, at times, they do not plan large-group times as effectively to engage and enable children who speak English as an additional language to fully participate.
• Staff say that they feel valued and are happy in their role in the nursery. They report that they look forward to coming to work everyday and the manager really invests in them. The manager provides staff with regular meetings, supervision sessions and access to professional development opportunities. This has a positive impact on staff's well-being and they are keen to contribute to the improvements in the nursery. For instance, children in the tweenies room show higher levels of engagement in activities as staff have provided lower-level storage for them to make more choices.
• The manager and staff team work hard to establish and maintain effective partnership working. For example, they work alongside a high number of schools and gather information to help children prepare to move on. Parents are very happy with how staff work in partnership with them. They say that their children receive consistent individual attention in every room. Parents are happy with how staff build on children's heritage and family backgrounds.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement plans to help staff focus their teaching during children's play, to help them make even more progress and deeply engage in experiences
• consider further ways to support children who speak English as an additional language, specifically during group times, to help them extend their vocabulary and participate fully in larger groups.