Discovery Nursery LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children play and explore cooperatively with their peers. They are confident at negotiating their ideas and involving others in their imaginative play. Children make choices from a wide variety of role-play resources, and use their imaginations well to create a shop, buying and selling foods.

Children develop their independence in a variety of ways. For instance, they wash their own hands, pour their own drinks and participate in washing up after snack time. Children are encouraged to make their own choices in their play, according to their individual interests. Children are developing skills they need to thrive when they start at school.

Children behave well. The interactions between staff and children are warm and positive. Children are learning to share resources and take turns. Staff set clear expectations. This impacts positively on children's behaviour.

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

• The staff team work together well to design a meaningful curriculum. Staff carefully follow children's interests. They use information from observations to plan activities. Staff understand how to challenge and teach children and know what they want them to learn next. They provide a good balance of free-play activities and adult-guided experiences. However, staff do not successfully make the most of their interactions to fully extend the older children's learning.
• Staff swiftly identify children who need additional support and work effectively with other professionals. Strategies are put in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. These strategies are well thought out and tailored to children's needs and preferences. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that these strategies are consistently used to support children's progress. Additional funding is used effectively to help children in their learning and development.
• Communication and language are embedded throughout the curriculum. Children are keen to listen to stories and are encouraged to join in with songs and rhymes. Staff talk to children during activities, introducing new words, and praising children when they repeat the word. This helps to give the children a sense of achievement and pride in their abilities.
• Children are supported to develop a love of reading. For example, they enjoy exploring books independently and with their friends, as well as listening to stories read by staff. Children are captivated by the expressions and actions staff use while they tell exciting stories. Children join in, recalling new words they have heard.
• Staff encourage children's mathematical development effectively. Children regularly use mathematical language in their play. They confidently count and identify numbers in sequence as they play. Staff challenge children to identify and understand the concepts of size and quantity.
• The manager has a clear vision for the nursery and makes ongoing improvements. She and the staff reflect together on the quality of the provision and take account of the views of parents and children. For example, they have increased the range of opportunities to provide a 'home-from-home' environment. The garden area has been significantly enhanced. For example, now the outdoor learning space has plenty of resources that promote children to play and explore in many different ways.
• Parents are very complimentary about the staff and nursery. They say that their children are always happy to attend, and make great progress in their learning and development. Overall, parents welcome the information they receive through an online app about their child's care and learning. However, staff do not successfully work with parents to ensure that packed lunches children bring meet their dietary needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend staff's skills to enable them to build on their interactions with older children, to further extend their learning
• work more closely with parents to provide information on the importance of providing a nutritional lunch, and promote further children's healthy lifestyles.