Eccleston Park Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel secure and happy in the friendly nursery. They know that staff value their ideas and this helps children to become adventurous, eager learners. Two-year-old children busily wash the play cars. They excitedly discover that they can carry the water in the sponges and make it run down slopes. Children become deeply involved in their self-initiated exploration. They rapidly gain new knowledge about the properties of soapy water and sponges.

Children's behaviour and self-assurance are excellent. They follow highly consistent routines that help to promote their independence superbly. Pre-school children take a clothes peg to a member of staff then leave the room to go to the toilet. They walk confidently to and from the bathroom then collect the peg and return it to the box. Children know that telling an adult where they are going helps to keep them safe. They demonstrate obvious pride in being trusted to act responsibly.

Parents and carers are full of praise for the nursery team. They describe the nursery as a home from home and say that all staff greet children warmly. Parents comment that managers and staff were supportive when children returned from absences linked to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. Managers sensitively enquired into the welfare of families and helped children to settle back into nursery. Managers work in close partnership with parents. For example, they involve parents in making decisions about additional funding. This helps to ensure that the funding benefits children's well-being and progress.

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

• The managers' clear vision for the nursery is rooted in their understanding of how adults and children learn. Managers delegate responsibility to room leaders and support them to make decisions. They encourage and help staff to try out their own ideas. They make sure that children experience a well-sequenced curriculum that consolidates and stimulates their learning. This helps to make the nursery a place where everyone learns and develops.
• Managers have improved the way that staff monitor children's progress. For example, they wanted staff to spend less time writing observations of children's learning. Staff now devote even more time and attention to interacting with children. They skilfully extend children's knowledge and challenge them to think.
• Overall, the supervision of staff is effective. The experienced managers often work alongside staff. They model practice and provide helpful coaching. This helps to make practice more consistent. However, there are occasions when managers do not make the 'success criteria' for staff's individual professional targets precise enough. Staff, sometimes, do not know exactly what to do to achieve consistently excellent practice.
• Staff work together in a purposeful and cooperative way. Children follow their example and show high levels of involvement during group learning times. They listen respectfully to adults and each other. They wait patiently for their turn. Children, therefore, combine excellent self-control with eager engagement. Their behaviour helps to promote their good progress really well.
• Staff make learning fun. They roll cars down steep and gentle slopes. This helps two-year-old children to see and understand what the words fast and slow mean. Children race 'as fast as they can' on play vehicles and this helps to promote their strength and stamina. The enthusiastic racing deepens children's understanding of speed. They concentrate hard as they listen for the word 'go' and then skilfully avoid other drivers. The teaching is highly motivating and this helps children to develop extremely positive attitudes to learning.
• The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the nursery. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) incorporates advice from specialist professionals into children's individual programmes. She tells staff what children with SEND are aiming to achieve. This means that children benefit from consistent teaching that helps them to make good progress from their starting points.
• Babies and younger toddlers are settled and busy. Staff skilfully provide the reassurance that encourages children to set off and explore. This helps children to become thoughtful and determined learners from the very beginning of their time at the nursery. Staff continuously talk with babies about what they are doing. This means that children hear words and phrases in a meaningful context and begin to say them.
• Children of all ages encounter interesting books and hear stories that help them to extend their vocabulary. They go on local outings and find out some of the things that written words and numbers are used for. Children regularly take part in listening activities and pre-school children learn that words have beginning and end sounds. This helps to promote their early reading.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• sharpen the improvement targets for individual staff, so that they know precisely what they must do to raise the quality of their practice.