Eljoy Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a safe and welcoming environment where children thrive. They are attentive and quickly recognise when children need emotional support. Staff provide reassuring words or cuddles, which helps children to build strong attachments. Children settle well and show that they feel secure at nursery. They arrive with big smiles on their faces and confidently separate from their parents. Staff provide consistent boundaries, to help children understand their high expectations for behaviour. For instance, they remind children to be kind and use good manners.

The manager and staff provide a broad and ambitious curriculum, to support children's next stages in learning. For example, staff encourage children to develop personal care skills, such as using the toilet and washing their hands. This boosts children's confidence and independence, which helps them make successful transitions to school. Children proudly demonstrate their abilities at snack time. They count 'one, two, three, stop' as they carefully pour a drink of water.

Staff incorporate children's interests into the curriculum. Therefore, children learn through activities which interest and excite them. This helps them to develop positive attitudes to learning. Children show curiosity, concentration and determination as they play. For instance, they explore how to create shapes, patterns and colours as they paint with their fingers and brushes.

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

• The manager and staff regularly observe and assess children's development. This enables them to sequence children's learning, to help them build on what they know and can do. There is good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff swiftly identify and address any emerging gaps in children's learning. They work in partnership with parents and other professionals, to help all children make good progress.
• Staff read and sing with children each day, to practise the rhymes and rhythms of speech. They carefully consider the words that they want children to learn and incorporate them into the activities. This supports children to develop good language skills. Staff also enable children to communicate in other ways, such as using objects or pictures. This helps all children, including children with SEND and those who speak English as an additional language, to express themselves confidently.
• Staff are playful and engaging as they interact with children. They demonstrate a good range of teaching skills. For example, staff show children how to use the resources and praise their efforts and achievements. However, some group activities are not organised as well as possible, to ensure all children can contribute their ideas and benefit fully from the learning opportunities.
• Children behave well. They listen to staff and generally play harmoniously. Staff sensitively address unwanted behaviour and help children to solve disagreements. However, they do not consistently promote children's understanding of emotions, to help them communicate their feelings effectively and begin to regulate their behaviour.
• Staff help children learn about their own customs and traditions as well as those of others. For instance, they learn about events, such as Eid and Chinese New Year by tasting food, listening to stories and creating artwork. This helps children to develop a positive appreciation of diversity and the wider world.
• Children love spending time outdoors being active. They exercise their large muscles as they run, climb, balance and pedal tricycles. This contributes to their enjoyment of healthy lifestyles. Staff remind children to be careful and considerate of others as they use the large apparatus. This helps children begin to understand risks and how to keep themselves safe.
• Parents are very happy with the service provided. They speak highly of the caring and supportive staff. Parents describe effective communication with the manager and staff. They appreciate their advice on issues, such as children's behaviour, toilet training and language development, which helps them to support children's learning at home.
• The manager provides regular supervision sessions for staff, to discuss the children's development and identify any training needs. This helps staff to further strengthen their practice. For instance, they have learned to use visual aids, such as a pictorial timetable, to help children understand the daily routines. Staff report that they feel valued and well supported by the manager and other colleagues.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to improve the planning and delivery of group activities, to ensure that all children fully engage and benefit as much as possible from the learning opportunities
• support staff to teach children about a broad range of emotions, to help children communicate their feelings and begin to moderate their behaviour independently.