Dicky Birds Pre School Nurseries Ltd - Queens Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop close relationships with their friends and the staff who care for them at this setting. Staff know children well and use their knowledge of children's interests and learning needs to plan interesting activities throughout the day. Staff's understanding of children and their learning goals helps to make the curriculum ambitious, sequenced and interesting. Children arrive excited to learn and cheerfully greet their friends and staff.

Staff have a good understanding of how to support children's emotional well-being. They have high expectations of children's behaviour and share their strategies with parents to implement at home. Staff speak to children calmly and help them to understand their feelings and manage their behaviour. Children learn how to regulate their own behaviour and start to understand the impact of their actions on others. They enjoy reading core books to help to understand how they feel. This helps to promote children's happiness and emotional security.

Children learn to be independent. They get a cup of water when they are thirsty, wash their hands before mealtimes and cooking activities, help to tidy up when they finish playing and become confident to manage their self-care. This helps to prepare children well for the next stage in their learning, including starting school.

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

• Since the last inspection, the new manager and her team have worked hard to implement an effective and well-designed curriculum. Staff know what they want children to learn. They plan activities that promote natural curiosity and support children to achieve their next steps in learning. Staff provide an inclusive curriculum that meets the needs of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, all children make good progress from their starting points in development.
• The manager is committed to making ongoing improvements and supports her staff extremely well. She makes sure that staff's well-being is paramount. Staff say that that they enjoy working at the setting. They have regular supervision sessions and receive feedback on their practice.
• The nursery offers a spacious and inviting environment for children to play and learn in. Children have plenty of opportunities to be outside and be physically active. They enjoy regular visits from outside sports coaches and show delight as they get ready for their next session. Children are familiar with their daily routines.
• Staff, generally, encourage children to build on their spontaneous play. For example, staff continue children's interests as they look at x-rays on an electronic tablet following a discussion about a sore foot. However, staff do not consistently make the best of these opportunities and do not extend children's learning as much as possible.
• Children develop their physical skills through a sequence of learning. Babies develop their large muscles through large movement painting. Children learn to take risks as they balance and climb the steps to the slide. Children use tricycles to manoeuvre around the garden. Children explore play dough as they build their finger muscles and scoop sand into pots. This helps to develop their fine motor skills in preparation for early writing.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents comment that communication has improved immensely since the last inspection. Staff are professional and approachable. They say that they are happy with the progress their children make at the setting. Parents praise staff for the regular updates they provide about their children's development and the ideas they share, which helps to promote children's learning at home.
• The manager is aware of the strengths and areas for further development of the nursery. Self-evaluation is used well to identify further ways to build on the good practice. The manager supports staff to understand how to improve their practice and provides regular opportunities to listen to staff. Staff receive a comprehensive induction to make sure that they understand their roles and responsibilities and ongoing interactive in-house training sessions as part of their continual professional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build on the opportunities to consistently extend children's learning and fully promote their development.