Eversleigh Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and children are happy and very settled in this calm and welcoming nursery. They show their obvious affection for their key person and snuggle in closely. Children demonstrate how safe they feel. Babies enthusiastically explore play resources that are soft, smooth, shiny and reflective. Older children are friendly and talk confidently to visitors about how they 'disappear' when they 'hide'. Children behave well and play cooperatively together. They take turns on the slide and the tricycles. Children show a strong sense of fairness and tell each other when it is their turn.

Staff have high expectations of children, overall. Children learn to use a mouse to complete a programme about colours on the computer. They talk about light and dark shades of green. Children learn to be independent from an early age. Babies put their shoes on and fasten the hook-and-loop straps. Older children collect the cups, plates and cutlery for the other children who sit at their lunch table. The cook ensures that children's individual dietary needs are catered for. Children enjoy a wide variety of freshly prepared nutritious food each day. This helps to support their healthy eating habits. The manager has recently relaxed the measures put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents now enter the nursery and see how their children are learning.

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

• The manager and staff have addressed all the actions set at the last inspection effectively. They have worked closely with staff from the local authority to develop an action plan to support and sustain improvements. The manager is well organised and determined to ensure continual improvement.
• Children display excellent conversational skills and extensive vocabularies. Staff consistently reinforce correct pronunciation to support children's speech. They also involve children in singing songs each day. Children choose objects from the song bag and confidently name a song connected to the objects. For example, when children choose a cow, they name and remember the song, and sing enthusiastically.
• Staff teach mathematics well. Children sing number songs and count accurately. They explore which cars travel the fastest and furthest down the wooden slopes they build. However, on occasions, staff do not consistently challenge children's thinking and problem-solving skills during activities. For example, when some children try to build a suspension bridge, they lose interest as staff do not consistently support them to extend their knowledge further.
• The manager and staff provide a very inclusive environment. They value children's home cultures and support their bilingual skills effectively. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very well. Staff work closely with local authority inclusion officers and other professionals to provide additional support to help children to make progress.
• Children enjoy digging and filling plant pots with compost. Staff teach them how to push 'runner bean' seeds down into the compost. They encourage children to talk about the colour of the seeds and to name them. However, staff do not consistently use opportunities to extend children's understanding of the natural world. For example, they do not help children to understand about the life cycle of seeds and how the seeds will grow into food to eat.
• Parents speak very highly about the nursery. They are kept informed about their children's learning. Parents are pleased with the progress they make. They feel that their children's speech, confidence and social skills have developed since they started at nursery. Parents state their children are 'always happy to attend'. They describe the nursery as 'calming and welcoming'.
• Staff ensure that children enjoy plenty of time playing outdoors. Children show high levels of motivation and awareness of safety as they climb the play structures. They skilfully pedal tricycles, negotiate obstacles and carefully pedal backwards showing an awareness of what is behind them. Children are energetic and develop good balance, coordination and control of their bodies.
• Babies and children enjoy looking at books and concentrate well when listening to stories. Staff repeat stories regularly to help develop children's memories. Children show their good understanding of popular stories. They use puppets and kitchen utensils to act out the stories they know. Children also enjoy listening to unusual stories about unicorns when celebrating World Book Day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide higher levels of challenge for children to consistently support their thinking and problem-solving skills, and extend their existing knowledge even further
• extend children's understanding and deepen their knowledge of the natural world, including growth and the life cycles of plants.