Dolphins Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and ready to start their day at this welcoming and inclusive nursery. Staff work closely with families and other professionals to gain a deep understanding of the children in their care. This ensures that children's individual needs are met, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. The diverse team of staff bring a wealth of experiences and speak many languages, supporting children who speak English as an additional language. Staff show genuine care and affection for the children. For example, new children receive sensitive support from their key person to help them settle into nursery. This helps all children to have a sense of belonging and make good progress from their starting points.

Staff implement a curriculum to help promote children's good health and physical development. For example, children take part in activities to learn about oral health. They learn new words and their meanings, such as 'cavities'. Children benefit from regular fresh air and exercise in the spacious garden. They enthusiastically burn off steam as they play chasing games with their friends. Staff use these opportunities to help children identify the effects that exercise has on their bodies. For example, they remind children to drink plenty of water to give them 'energy' and keep their bodies 'hydrated'.

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

• Since the last inspection, leaders have worked hard to improve the quality of the provision. For instance, staff benefit from regular supervision sessions and tailored training to help them improve their knowledge, skills and teaching practice. Staff are passionate about their roles and work well together as a team, sharing the same vision for continuous improvement. For example, they use what they have learned from recent training to enhance the curriculum. This contributes towards ensuring children receive good-quality care and education.
• Children benefit from the strong curriculum for mathematics. Staff skilfully weave in counting and numbers during children's spontaneous play. For example, staff encourage children to predict how many fish there are as they sing familiar number songs. Older children concentrate intently to complete simple addition and subtraction activities to challenge their learning further. This helps children to make good progress in their mathematical development.
• Staff know what they want children to learn, building on their existing knowledge and skills. Staff carry out regular observations and assessments to plan for children's next steps in learning. However, staff do not focus precisely enough on what they want individual children to learn. This means that children do not always receive specific enough support to help them make even better progress in their learning.
• Staff act as positive role models. They offer lots of support and use gentle reminders with children as they play, such as encouraging them to take turns and share resources. Staff quickly help children to resolve any minor disputes, giving them time to discuss their feelings. This helps children to behave well and develop respectful friendships.
• Staff support children to develop their independence skills from an early age. For example, younger children are encouraged to serve their own food and clean their face after eating. Older children show a 'can-do' attitude as they take clothes out of their bag and attempt to get themselves dressed. Children of all ages confidently find their water bottles when they are thirsty and put them away afterwards. This helps children to learn to do things for themselves.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They engage children in meaningful conversations, asking questions to support their thinking skills. For instance, staff encourage children to find different ways to fit puzzle pieces together. Children talk with confidence to staff, who listen with interest to what they say. This supports children to problem-solve and become confident communicators.
• Overall, staff support children to engage well in meaningful learning. Children are curious and eager to take part in activities that staff provide. For example, younger children delight in making marks with paint on paper. Older children are inquisitive and explore how many objects they can fit inside plastic Easter eggs. However, occasionally, staff do not redirect children's play to ensure their learning is fully supported at all times. This means, for short periods, children become disengaged.
• Parents are highly complimentary about the nursery and the staff team. They comment about their children's good development in their communication and language skills. Staff share strategies and ideas with parents on how to support their children's learning at home. This successful communication with parents enables consistency in children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's understanding of how to use their knowledge of what children know and can do to plan more precisely for their next steps in learning
• support staff to recognise and maintain children's engagement during their play when they become less focused.