Dicky Birds Nurseries Ltd - Pelham Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff spend time getting to know individual children well. They develop very warm and nurturing relationships with children. All children feel safe and relaxed at the nursery. In the baby room, staff support children to feel confident and try new activities. For example, babies giggle as they climb, row in the boat, and sing songs with staff. Staff use positive facial expressions and language to support children to feel relaxed. Babies display high levels of happiness as they laugh excitedly with friends. As babies arrive at the nursery and meet their key worker, they stretch out their arms for cuddles. Children have high levels of self-esteem.

Staff consider the needs of all children when planning activities. Staff make links between activities to help children to deepen their understanding and use their imaginations. For example, in the pre-school room staff help children to build a fire engine. Children decide to build a ladder for the firemen to climb. They carefully solve problems and use mathematical language to create their ladder. Children feel challenged. Staff identify what children enjoy doing and foster their interests. They encourage children to gain a broad range of skills. Children have positive attitudes to learning. They feel motivated and excited to learn new knowledge and skills.

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

• The nursery is well led. The manager creates a curriculum based on the children's interests, needs and personalities. All staff understand their roles and responsibilities. They share a vision for supporting children to develop their interests and talents. Children are well supported to learn skills and knowledge across all areas of learning.
• Staff have a strong understanding of child development. The training they receive helps them to identify next steps in children's learning. They use this information to plan an ambitious curriculum for all children. Children make good progress. They are well prepared for the next stage of their education, including school.
• Overall, teaching is of high quality. However, there are some inconsistencies in how staff across the nursery support children to make choices. On occasion, toddlers do not receive the support they need to decide what they want to do next. Children are not always able to develop concentration and focus at the highest levels.
• Staff support children to learn new vocabulary. They teach children to have back-and-forth conversations. Babies, toddlers and pre-schoolers hear new language and learn to use it in their play. Children learn to express themselves. They feel excited to share what they know and learn at nursery.
• Staff understand that some children have gaps in their learning. The manager works with staff to identify children who need additional support to reach their milestones. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. They receive help from other professionals where required. All children reach the best possible outcomes.
• Staff teach children to do things for themselves. For example, they expect children to wash their hands and refill tissues themselves. Some babies pour their own drinks and feed themselves. In the toddler room, children make their own play dough. They scoop, knead and measure. Children feel competent. They have high levels of confidence in their own abilities.
• Overall, parent partnerships are strong. The manager and staff spend time listening to parents and offering advice and support. However, on occasion parents are not always given enough information about children's learning. This limits how parents can extend children's learning at home.
• The manager carries out supervisions on staff. She uses this as an opportunity to arrange continuous professional development opportunities with the manager. Staff are able to continue to develop their teaching practice over time.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's practice further to ensure consistently high-quality teaching across the nursery
• strengthen communication with parents to help support them to know what their children are learning and how to extend this further at home.