Eeeny House Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build positive relationships with all children. Babies and young toddlers have strong attachments to their caregivers and go to them for cuddles if they feel uncertain. Children of all ages develop positive relationships with others. Older children are kind, caring and enjoy helping each other. They play considerately with others, sharing their ideas and taking turns with toys. Staff are quick to praise children for their efforts, and this promotes engagement and enjoyment for children.

Staff manage transitions very well to support children's emotional well-being and prepare them for change. For example, staff arrange frequent stay-and-play sessions when children first start nursery, which helps children to establish positive relationships quickly. Staff work together closely to ensure continuity of care when children transfer to new rooms. Staff support children's transition to school in multiple ways, including through stories and role play. All children are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

Staff ensure that they support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to access activities that help them to meet their next steps. They construct a curriculum that ensures all children, including children with SEND, have opportunities to play and learn.

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

• Leaders have a clear curriculum intent. They know what they want children to learn and how to help them become ready for school. However, some activities that staff provide do not always capture children's individual learning needs. This results in some children losing focus quicker than others.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language or children with SEND well at this nursery. Staff work with parents and partner agencies to ensure that appropriate support is sought when required. This supports all children to have every opportunity to make the best progress they can.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their understanding of different feelings and emotions. For example, they have ongoing discussions and plan activities using 'emotion cards' that encourage children to talk about their feelings and emotions. They support and talk to babies and toddlers about how they are feeling, such as when they express that they are happy or sad. This helps children begin to make connections between their feelings and emotions.
• Staff generally support children's communication and language well. They sing familiar nursery rhymes and songs that children enjoy listening to. Staff adapt the language they use with children of different ages. For example, with younger children, staff use simple language to help them understand. With older children, staff ask a range of questions that encourage children to think and respond. However, staff do not always encourage children to remove their dummies once they are settled at nursery. As a result, children try to talk with dummies in their mouths. This does not help them learn how to pronounce words correctly or be understood by others.
• Children benefit from eating freshly prepared nutritious meals and snacks. The nursery has achieved the silver award in the Healthy Early Years London scheme in recognition of its excellent support for children's health. However, due to an oversight by the provider, they have failed to register the premises with the food standards agency to comply with legal requirements. Nonetheless, there is a good understanding of how to maintain a clean and safe food preparation area, which reduces the impact to children's safety.
• The nursery has worked with health partners to introduce a programme to improve children's oral health. Children sit together for a daily toothbrushing session alongside staff who model effective toothbrushing. Parents attend workshops to support their understanding of how to ensure that their children brush their teeth at home. As a result, children are learning why good oral hygiene is important to their physical health.
• Parents are happy with the care their children receive at the nursery. They describe staff as friendly and very supportive. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that they receive regular developmental information about their child's learning. Parents know who their child's key person is and say they receive advice and suggestions from staff to support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider must:

• comply with all relevant legal duties, including food safety and hygiene to ensure children's health and safety. (by 14 April 2025)

The provider should:

• strengthen planning and implementation of activities so that they are consistently tailored to the needs of the children present to build on what they already know and can do
• support staff to recognise opportunities to further support children's speech and language development.