Daisykins Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's good health and safety are promoted well in the environment created by staff. Children eat a healthy diet and enjoy a range of opportunities for physically active play, both indoors and outdoors. Individual dietary needs are met, and procedures are in place to ensure that children do not eat food that would cause them harm. Children learn healthy habits, such as good hygiene practices. Young children rest and sleep in accordance with their individual needs.

Relationships are positive, and children are happy and settled. They behave well and show consideration for others. Children learn to share and take turns. Staff offer praise and encouragement, which helps to boost children's self-esteem. Children's emotional security is given a high priority. This is initially addressed with a gradual settling-in procedure that is agreed with parents. Friendships have formed among the pre-school children, and younger children play happily alongside others.

Children are confident and curious. Older children demonstrate high levels of concentration, and all children are challenged effectively, so that they make good progress. Staff work effectively with parents and other professionals to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the additional support that they need.

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

• The manager and the deputy have developed systems for monitoring, staff supervision and performance management. This helps staff to continually review their knowledge and skills and maintain good outcomes for children.
• Staff observe, assess and plan effectively, so that children's learning builds on what they already know and can do. Children make good progress and are well prepared for changes of rooms as they progress through the nursery. Parents are made aware in advance and meet with their child's new key person. Children develop good skills that help them to be ready for the move on to school.
• Staff keep parents informed about their children's achievements and progress and they engage parents in their children's development and learning in the setting and at home. However, information initially obtained from parents primarily focuses on children's care needs, likes and dislikes. Consequently, at the onset of care, staff do not make the most of parents' knowledge on what their child already knows and can do.
• Children make good progress in their communication and language development. Singing is used effectively to support very young children's emerging speaking skills. Staff sing the words clearly and at a pace that makes it easy for the children to join in. Staff are alert to babies' non-verbal forms of communication while encourage speaking skills effectively, for example, by repeating back the sounds that babies make and by repeating words that they say. Older children engage in conversation with staff, with their friends and with visitors. They are curious and enjoy asking adults questions while in conversations.
• Children's independence is generally promoted well. However, there are times when some staff do not encourage young children to have a go at managing routine tasks, such as putting on and taking off their coats and peeling the skin off the banana they eat at snack time.
• There is plenty of space in the building and a 'studio' room is used effectively to support children's physical development through dance and games, including a parachute game. Babies' climbing skills are supported with access to soft-play equipment.
• Babies and children under two years enjoy opportunities for sensory exploration. A large tray on the floor contains foil containers, cooked pasta and uncooked rice. Babies notice the marks they make in the rice with their fingers. They pick up the rice and sprinkle it with their fingertips. They are interested when staff sprinkle the rice into the containers and suggest it sounds like rain.
• Older children are creative, and their pencil control is good. Some choose to design masks using paper plates, glue, glitter, tissue paper and small pom-poms. Some use their good skills to draw faces using pencil crayons.
• Staff support children's enjoyment of books. Some children are happy to choose a book and look at it alone and others ask staff to read to them. Staff are animated as they read and encourage children's involvement. Children talk about what will happen next and recognise characters in favourite stories. Pre-school children are learning about the link between letters and sounds.
• Children gain some awareness of diversity. Current art and craft activities and role play link to Chinese New Year. However, staff have not fully considered ways to help children learn about similarities and differences between people, for example, different traditions, communities and families.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• obtain more information from parents about what their child already knows at the onset of care in order to inform initial planning for learning
• offer more support for some children to manage simple tasks for themselves
• extend practice for teaching children about traditions, communities and families beyond their own.