Destiny Helpers Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's well-being and learning are fostered in this small and nurturing environment. They are greeted warmly at the gate each morning and are so happy to come to nursery. Children are excited to meet their key person and friends. They say 'hello' with hugs and smiles as they begin their day. Children feel valued and can make choices about which healthy fruit or vegetable they would like for their snack. They choose the rhymes and songs that they would like to sing. Lunchtime is extremely well managed as children sit together and eat a hot and nutritious meal. Staff pay good attention to promoting children's health and well-being.

Children are very confident communicators and can express themselves clearly. They engage in regular dialogue with their friends and ask for help politely. Children are excited and motivated to learn. For instance, they jump up and down as they add food colouring to their own play dough mixture and watch the colour change. Children have a clear understanding of boundaries and treat each other with respect and kindness. This is demonstrated as they pass a bowl to their friends so that they can join and listen to each other perform their favourite songs.

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

• Children listen and respond to instructions well. Staff encourage them to be independent. For example, children serve themselves strawberries for snack time, put on their own shoes to go in the garden and select resources which they would like to use.
• Children have their own ideas and the freedom to create and explore. They use large bricks to build castles and bridges. Children adjust their designs and work cooperatively with their friends.
• Staff embed early mathematical concepts with children. They encourage children to count scoops of flour accurately, sing counting songs and know how many beads they have threaded.
• Staff place singing at the heart of the setting. Children learn new songs quickly and share these with their families at home. They all join in confidently when singing songs about the months of the year and days of the week.
• The curriculum is focused on building children's confidence and celebrating what makes them unique. Children share their home languages in the setting. They are proud to eat their favourite foods which they eat at home on 'taste of culture' day.
• Children feel valued and supported. They talk freely about their home lives, bring in photos of their families to share and look at special photo books in the book corner. Children learn each other's names and sing 'good morning' to their friends each day.
• Children demonstrate good attention and concentration. They enjoy their learning and develop skills to share, take turns and listen as they wait for ingredients to make their play dough. Children have good attitudes towards their learning. They are motivated as they decide to wash their dolls and name body parts as they scrub their ears, toes and hands.
• Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They embed their boundaries through visual clues, encouraging 'good listening' and 'kind hands'. Staff talk about these expectations throughout the day.
• Staff have regular meetings and there is an effective key-person system. They discuss their observations of children's learning and plan themes and ideas based on children's interests and next steps in learning. For example, to support children's personal development during times of transition, they read stories and involve children in activities about emotions.
• Staff work closely with outside agencies. They ensure that targets are met and strategies are put in place. Staff work on building children's vocabulary, from using single words to speaking in full sentences.
• Staff have benefited from recent training around supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This helps them to have the skills to identify children's needs, support them to make progress and monitor their learning.
• Staff feel supported by their manager. They receive feedback and guidance through regular meetings. Although peer observations take place and staff are reflective, their practice is not consistently monitored to extend the quality of interactions and education even further.
• Partnerships with parents are strong and children settle well with support from the nursery team. Parents feel involved and updated about what their child is learning through regular meetings, daily messages and photos. They report positively about the nursery and say that their children love to attend.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen systems to monitor staff's practice and interactions to raise the quality of education to a higher level.