Fairy Tales Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. They busy themselves with their chosen activity and happily invite others to join their play. For example, pre-school children enjoy playing with dough. They offer their cutters to their friends and politely ask each other if they can share the different-coloured dough. Children are learning to be respectful of others and their resources. For example, staff swiftly intervene when they notice older babies throwing oats onto the floor. Staff explain that their friends may slip on the oats and hurt themselves. Children eagerly help staff to sweep the floor to make it safe again.

Staff provide activities which help children learn how to be healthy. For example, pre-school children learn how to keep their teeth clean. They draw dirt on pictures of teeth and practise brushing it off. Children develop social skills as they talk with staff about when they have visited a dentist. They recall from a previous story that too many sweets are bad for teeth. Furthermore, even the youngest children know they need to 'rub-a-dub' their hands to make them clean, ready for lunchtime. Staff ensure that all children have daily access to fresh air and outdoor play. Children use their muscles as they throw and kick balls back and forth to staff, push themselves along in ride-on cars and climb small climbing frames. This helps children to develop their coordination skills.

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

• The provider has taken a proactive approach in response to the last inspection. The necessary checks have now been carried out to verify that people looking after children are suitable to do so. This has had a positive impact as children's safety is now assured.
• Staff support children's emotional well-being. For example, some children struggle to regulate their emotions. Staff notice when children are getting upset and skilfully intervene. They work with children to encourage them to use words and say how they are feeling. This helps children begin to understand why they feel the way they do.
• Staff support children's love of books. Babies babble to staff, as if in two-way conversation, as they look at the pictures together. Staff name animals they see, and babies respond readily by making the animal noises. However, on occasion, children's learning is disrupted. For example, toddlers' story time is interrupted by high noise levels as staff get the room ready for lunchtime. In addition, staff take children to wash their hands in the middle of the story. This disrupts children's learning and their ability to fully listen and engage in the activity.
• Staff are good role models and encourage children to share, take turns and use their manners. For example, when children have minor disputes with others during their play, staff suggest how they could ask for things nicely. Children are praised for their kind behaviour, which sees them beam with pride.
• Staff provide opportunities to develop children's small-muscle skills. This helps them to practise the skills they need for early writing. Pre-school children write letters. They use a variety of pencils and crayons to carefully write letter shapes and draw pictures which they then deliver to their friends. Toddlers eagerly paint sunflowers, using brushes to make circles and lines. Staff talk to toddlers about the colours and shapes on their pictures. Babies use wooden hammers to knock balls and pegs through holes. They notice that they have too many balls for the spaces on the rack. Babies learn to problem-solve as they move extra balls away.
• Children are learning to do things for themselves. Even the youngest children recognise the change in the routine and readily help staff to tidy away. Babies feed themselves at lunchtime, toddlers are supported to serve themselves food and pour drinks, and pre-school children put their own coats on for outdoor play. This helps children's growing independence skills.
• Overall, staff deployment is effective. Staff engage with children during their play to build on what they want children to learn next and to develop their interests further. However, due to the layout of the pre-school room, the deployment of staff means that, at times, children have limited support from staff to consistently extend their play and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• organise story time, with particular reference to the toddler room, to ensure that children are able to fully engage without their learning being disrupted
• ensure the effective deployment of staff in the pre-school room, in order to provide consistent and purposeful interactions for children which build on their existing skills and knowledge.