Dove Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery and happily wave goodbye to their parents and carers. Staff greet the children warmly as they arrive. Children run eagerly in to explore the activities that staff have provided for them. They clearly show their enjoyment as they manipulate dough through small tubes and giggle with the adults. Children squeal, 'I made a wiggly, wriggly worm!'

Children play enthusiastically in the garden. They share resources and take turns to pour water down the tubes. Young children learn new words such as 'splash' and 'pour'. Staff support children's emerging language very effectively. They have high expectations of children's behaviour and are excellent role models. As a result, children are kind and courteous to the staff and their peers.

Children demonstrate their resilience as they build a tower together. It keeps toppling over and they use their problem-solving skills as they successfully negotiate a solution. They beam with a sense of achievement when staff praise them for not giving up. This helps to raise their self-esteem and confidence.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaders have highlighted that some children need additional support with their emotions. Consequently, staff encourage children to talk about their feelings, for example, what makes them 'sad' or 'happy'. Staff are warm and attentive and support children's emotional wellbeing effectively through stories and role-play.

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

• Staff are very good at developing children's communication skills. They have a strong focus on supporting children's language through books, rhyme and songs. Children enthusiastically sing along to the guitar at group times and join in with the actions, commenting, 'Oh, I love this one!' Children are confident speakers and are self-assured.
• Staff work well with other professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They take advice and try suggested strategies which they also share with parents. As a result, all children make good progress.
• Staff successfully use resources and activities to support children's imaginations and language. For example, children pretend to be hairdressers as they ask staff, 'How do you want your hair today?' They hand the inspector a toy phone. 'It's for you,' they say with a huge smile.
• Parents speak very highly of the nursery. There is praise for the staff who have helped support children with SEND. Parents appreciate that staff support children's home languages in the nursery and provide information on how to support learning at home.
• Children develop strong physical skills. They learn to ride bikes and jump over large foam shapes. Children design their own obstacle course and skilfully balance, jump and run while playing with it. This promotes children's health and the development of their physical skills very effectively.
• The development of children's independence is not fully nurtured by staff. Sometimes, staff do things for children that they are capable of doing for themselves. For example, staff do not consistently use daily routines to promote children's independence skills.
• Staff use the curriculum to plan learning based on children's existing knowledge and skills. This helps children to have consistent learning opportunities. For example, children who enjoyed wearing pirate costumes were encouraged to draw treasure maps. Children eagerly engaged with their peers to search for 'treasure' in the nursery.
• Staff promote good hygiene routines at snack, mealtimes and after using the toilet. Children wash and dry their hands under the watchful eyes of the staff. However, staff do not use these times to discuss the importance of healthy food. Consequently, children's understanding of healthy lifestyles is not fully supported.
• Staff comment that the owner of the nursery very effectively supports their well-being. They describe how she monitors their workload to ensure that it is manageable. The owner operates an open door policy for staff to discuss any issues at home or in the nursery. As a result, staff say they feel valued and listened to.
• Staff make very good use of the outside space and resources are well organised, enabling children to have space to play. For example, staff and children set up a 'road' system so that children can ride around on bikes safely. Children are thoroughly engaged and shout to their friends that 'green means go' and 'red means stop'. As a result, children develop a good understanding of how to stay safe.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• maximise opportunities for children to develop their independence skills
• build on opportunities during everyday routines to support children's understanding of the importance of making healthy choices.