Diggory's Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have built positive relationships with children and their families. This supports children to feel confident and happy as they arrive at nursery. Children are eager to hang their belongings up safely. They enter the room and choose items they want to play with from a variety of resources set up by staff that cover all areas of early learning. Staff use children's interests and next steps to inform the environments they create, to support children to engage in play for long periods of time.

On occasions, if children become upset, staff use these opportunities to talk about emotions. For example, when children line up to go on climbing equipment and another child pushes in, staff name the disappointment they see on the child's face. Staff provide a mirror and encourage children to pull different faces, to show emotions, such as cross or scared. This enables older children to talk to staff openly about how they feel. Staff encourage children's sense of self further, when they ask children to reflect on their day, what they liked about the morning and what they would like to do in the afternoon.

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

• Staff and managers understand child development and what they want children to learn. They identify areas of focus from their ongoing assessments of children, to enhance their activities they offer to children. Managers plan to develop their resources to support children further with their mathematical learning, such as offering more number and shapes outside.
• Staff support children to develop a love of reading. They encourage children at regular intervals to sit and read a book as well as at group times. Staff make reading purposeful and link this to the activities they have set up. All children are keen to get a book out and will take them to staff. Staff use different tones and sounds when they read to help to keep children's attention. Children sit calmly and listen to the stories.
• Staff develop children's communication. They use repetition and single words with younger children. For example, 'tap, tap, tap,' as children make sounds with bricks. Staff use signs to support children to understand when they sing and children attempt to use these signs. Staff use frequent single words. They comment on what children do and name items that children use to introduce them to new vocabulary. Staff pause and ask skilful questions, to see if children will use the language they have been introduced to.
• Staff support children to develop friendships with others. They prompt children to go over and join in with activities. Some children struggle to roll their sleeves up. Staff ask other children to help their friends. Children enjoy helping each other, so they can join in. Staff support children to take turns. They help children to understand when it is their turn to open a flap in a book and when they have to wait for their friends to have a turn. Children say, 'my turn,' when asked whose turn it is next.
• Staff support children to develop independence and give assistance to children who need it. Staff explain how to put on their coats and shoes. They use fun ways, putting their arms in their coats and flipping them over their head. Children are encouraged to take ownership of their own lunches. Staff tell them to take each item out of their lunch box and put it onto their plate. Children open their own packets, with helpful instructions from staff, such as 'pinch, pinch, pull'.
• Staff remind children how to be kind to one another and intervene promptly when children make their friends unhappy. Some staff use praise to show children the type of behaviour they expect, for example they praise the 'beautiful manners' children use. However, in parts of the daily routine, some staff are not clear of what they expect of children. For example, when some staff lead group time, children shuffle about, turn around and play with toys, instead of listening to staff.
• Staff have clear focus and intent within planned activities. For example, children learn about where sharks, worms and hedgehogs live while they play with dough. However, within children's free play choices, some staff do not consistently interact and support children to learn new things beyond what they already know.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to be consistent with their expectations, to ensure children understand how they are expected to behave
• develop the consistency of staff interactions within free play activities to extend learning beyond what children already know.