Explorers Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are calm, settled and enjoy their time in this setting. They separate well from their parents and form good relationships with staff. Staff encourage children to be as independent as possible. Children feel safe exploring their environment and the carefully arranged resources that are easily accessible. They engage well in activities of their choosing, showing a positive attitude towards learning.

Relationships with parents are strong. Parents speak highly of the nursery and feel well informed about what their children are doing. Children behave extremely well. Staff encourage them to show respect for one another and the environment around them. Staff use the outdoor area to teach children about planting, growing and harvesting and to develop children's physical skills.

Staff know the children well. They work in partnership with parents to gain information about what children can do and use this to plan the next steps in learning for children. Staff seek children's ideas for future activities and topics. They use children's interests to plan motivating activities that encourage children to learn. The manager and her team work hard to ensure that planning is relevant for all children and covers all aspects of learning and development. Staff work well together as a team and feel confident to suggest ideas for future areas of improvement.

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

• Staff value and act upon parental input. For example, as a result of parental feedback, staff planned activities linked to emotional awareness and parents reported improvements in their children's emotional literacy skills.
• Staff carefully manage changes at the nursery. They use information from parents to tailor the care provided to mirror routines from home. Staff move children up to the pre-school area when they feel that they are ready rather than when they hit a certain age. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) shares information with primary schools for children who may need more support. This enables children to settle well in the next stage of their education.
• Staff provide activities that are carefully matched to what children need to learn next. However, children largely access these activities independently. Staff do not capitalise on key opportunities to interact with children and model key skills to extend learning further.
• Children have good attitudes to learning. Staff encourage children to care for the environment. They involve them in tidying away and other day-to-day activities, such as recycling and harvesting crops from the garden.
• Generally, staff provide clear structure and routines. However, there are times when children are not engaged, particularly when moving between routine activities. For example, at mealtimes, all children have to wait for everyone to finish before they can go and play. This means that children sometimes spend too long waiting for the next activity to begin, missing out on purposeful interactions and potential learning time.
• Staff encourage children to be physically active by planning physical movement 'wake and shake' sessions and plenty of time outside. Babies have many opportunities to pull themselves up as they learn to stand. Older children use the bike track to develop physical skills and to learn about road safety. Children strengthen their hand muscles as they make marks with paintbrushes, scoop rice into pots and use tweezers to grasp small objects. Children are developing the physical skills they will need in the next stage of their learning.
• The manager ensures that she is very much involved with the children and parents. She monitors the quality of teaching by frequently observing practice and providing feedback. Staff report that they feel supported, and their opinions valued.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve staff interactions and modelling of skills with children, to deepen and extend children's learning
• adapt daily routines to ensure that they are tailored to the children's needs to maximise children's learning time.