Early Days Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and her staff team are dedicated and passionate about the role they play in shaping the lives of young children to ensure the best outcomes for them. Staff build strong relationships with the children they care for. Staff are kind, nurturing and attentive to children's needs. Children feel safe and secure. Reassurance and cuddles are given in abundance. Children gain the confidence to try new experiences as staff support them and give encouragement. This helps to boost children's self-esteem. Babies enjoy exploring paint. They squish it through their fingers or use shapes to mark make on cards they are making for Father's Day. Staff support babies' emerging communication and language skills. They repeat singular words back to them, such as 'stamp, stamp' when pressing their shapes down. Staff encourage the youngest babies to babble as they copy the noises they are making.

Younger children enjoy movement time. They hold their piece of fabric and wave it around to music up high and down low, in large circular movements. This helps with their physical development. Pre-school children learn to be independent. They hang their own coats and bags up on their pegs. They self-serve their own lunch and clear away their plates after they have eaten. They especially like having roles and responsibilities. Children enjoy being the 'helper of the day' and they set the table for their friends, ready for lunch. They take pride in their work and staff praise them for their efforts.

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

• The manager and her staff work closely together as a team. Staff report high levels of morale. The manager completes regular supervisions and offers support to all staff to ensure their well-being. Access to professional training opportunities allow staff to study new areas of interest to them. It also means that the quality of teaching is consistently good.
• Support for children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities is superb. Staff have high expectations for all children. Highly effective development plans and targets, along with excellent working relationships with other professionals who are also involved in children's care, mean that children make the best progress they are capable of.
• A strong focus on communication and language ensures that all children receive the support they need to be able to communicate effectively. Staff use Makaton and pictures to help communicate with all children. Access to local initiatives and strong partnerships with the speech and language team mean that staff deliver targeted support to children. Activities involving musical instruments and singing support children with their listening and attention.
• Children's safety is given the utmost priority. The manager and her staff go above and beyond to ensure that every child within the setting is safe. Meticulous documentation, highly vigilant staff, and staff's excellent knowledge on safeguarding procedures mean that parents are supported to know how they can effectively care for their children to keep them safe.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Information is shared with parents using online platforms. Verbal feedback is given daily. Parents' evenings are held so that parents can speak to their child's key person. Opportunities for parents to have meetings about their child's progress are always available. The manager and staff facilitate meetings between other professionals, parents, and the children within the setting. Parents say that their children enjoy attending, and that staff are friendly and supportive.
• Staff provide group activities for children to further enhance their learning. For example, children enjoy the play dough gym. They squish, roll, and poke play dough, which helps to strengthen their fingers in preparation for pencil control. However, at times, not all group activities meet the needs of all the children. This causes some children to become restless and interfere with other children's engagement and they do not gain the most from the activity on offer.
• The curriculum focuses on children gaining the skills required for their next stage of learning and eventual move to school. Staff know the children well. They plan activities to continually evolve around the needs of the children to enhance their learning even further. Staff aim to provide a continuous provision for the children so they can seamlessly transition from activity to activity. That said, this is not yet fully embedded. On occasions, activities come to an end when children are still wanting to do more, and staff do not always recognise this.
• Children benefit from lots of fresh air outdoors. They learn to take turns when using and sharing equipment. Good hygiene practises are embedded. Children are encouraged to toilet independently and know they must wash their hands. Freshly prepared hot meals and healthy snacks are provided. Children eagerly talk about the vegetables they are eating and how they are good for them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how staff can adapt group activities to ensure that all children can fully engage and benefit from the learning opportunities
• continue to embed the continuous provision and support staff to recognise when children's learning can be further enhanced.