Educare Nursery & Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time in the nursery. Child-led play is balanced with adult-led activities, where children learn to sit and listen for short periods. Children develop a love of reading. They look at books independently in the book shed. They learn how to hold them and turn the pages. Children talk to staff about the pictures and what they can see.

Children's understanding of their community is extended during trips off the premises. They feed the ducks, visit the library, and test their physical skills using large equipment at the local park. Children begin to understand how their body works. Staff explain that they are made up of skin, bones, and blood. Children think about how blood flows through their veins, and how their heart is beating. Children demonstrate good understanding. They ask relevant questions and show curiosity about this subject.

Children demonstrate positive behaviour. Staff help them to understand their feelings and they begin to manage their emotions. For example, children think about things that make them 'confused', 'scared' or 'calm'. Children enjoy a healthy diet. Embedded hygiene practises ensure that the personal needs of all children are met appropriately. Staff teach children from a young age to be independent in managing their personal care.

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

• Leaders plan a coherent, sequenced curriculum based on children's interests and next steps. They identify the skills children need to attain before they move on to the next stage in their learning. However, leaders do not ensure the curriculum is implemented effectively throughout the nursery. As a result, not all children are supported to make the best possible progress in all areas of learning.
• Babies demonstrate secure attachments to caring, nurturing staff. Babies nestle in their arms to have their bottle and fall asleep showing how they feel safe and secure. Babies have space to crawl and move around. Staff roll balls to them to encourage them to crawl and develop their hand to eye coordination. Babies pull themselves to a standing position using furniture, strengthening the muscles they need for walking. Staff sing nursery rhymes to them as they play to support their communication and language skills.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills well. They sing songs that encourage children to chatter, shout, and whisper. They introduce letter sounds. Toddlers develop listening skills when they follow instructions and copy actions. Older children initiate conversations and share their ideas. Staff help children who speak English as an additional language to understand routines by using pictures and single words. However, they do not provide enough opportunities for children to develop and use their home languages in play and learning.
• Staff provide good levels of support for children who have special education needs and/or disabilities. They promote their language development by singing, reading, and repeating sounds children make. Staff use facial expressions and physical gestures to help children communicate. They introduce sign language during daily routines, such as washing children's hands. Staff use objects of reference to support children's understanding of routines.
• Leaders use additional funding effectively to enhance learning for children. They improved the outdoor area to give children better access. Leaders found that children accessed the equipment and used the outdoor areas more. Children learn to ride bicycles and use stepping stones to develop core strength and balance. Children in the preschool room have a book bag and take books home to read with their parents.
• Children develop their mathematical knowledge during outdoor play. They talk about how many wheels their toys have. The youngest children begin to understand '1,2,3' and 'ready, steady, go'. Children pretend to work on a construction site. Staff engage in their play, asking how many pennies they need to build a house. Children think about size when they stack bricks to build their house.
• Parents and carers appreciate the care and learning their children receive. They say that children make strong progress, particularly in their communication and language, and social skills. Their children build friendships and talk about the nursery and staff at home.
• In the main, leaders are aware of weaknesses in their practice. They provide staff with training to keep their knowledge up to date. However, leaders to not use the information they gather from their evaluations to target staff's individual professional development needs. This means staff are not fully supported to raise the quality of education to the highest level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure the curriculum for all children is implemented effectively, taking into account their interests and next steps in learning, so that they continually build on what they already know and can do, and make the best possible progress in all areas of learning
• provide opportunities for children who speak English as an additional language, to develop and use their home languages in play and learning
• strengthen the evaluation of practice to identify the individual training needs for staff, and use the information to sharply focus staff's professional development and raise the quality of education to a higher level.