Favours Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children warmly as they arrive at the setting. Older children rush inside and are keen to see what activities are on offer. For young babies, some of whom have only recently started, staff cuddle them and provide their comforters to help them to settle quickly. Throughout the day, staff are on hand to provide reassurance and support to children if needed. This close and supportive interaction from staff helps children to feel happy, safe and secure.

Children's behaviour is good. Four-year-old children confidently invite their friends to play with small-world animals. They share the animals out and say, 'Here, you can have this one if you like.' Two-year-old children rush over to their friends and put their arms around them when they are upset. Staff praise children for being kind and caring towards each other, helping them to understand staff expectations of their behaviour.

Staff have consistently high expectations of what children can do. They help children to embed routines during the day. For example, at lunchtime, one-year-old children confidently find a seat at the table for lunch and sit down. Staff support children to progress in their self-care skills. Younger children eat with a fork or spoon, showing increasing confidence. For two- and three-year-old children, they proudly show visitors that they are able to use a fork and are beginning to use a knife.

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

• The management team has successfully met the actions set at the last inspection. Managers have removed all potential hazards and risks. Staff have received updated training on all areas of safeguarding. Regular supervision meetings take place to help staff identify what they do well in their practice and how they could develop this even further.
• Staff provide children with many opportunities to develop their physical skills. Two-year-old children climb on wooden blocks in the garden, and they are delighted when they manage to walk across a plank of wood independently. They explain to visitors that they put their arms out at their sides to help them to cross safely. Staff recognise that some older children have not had opportunities to attend groups outside of the setting due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, staff arrange for older children to benefit from weekly sports, dance and music sessions. This helps them to develop strong listening skills as they learn different sports games.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to develop a love of books. In every room at the setting, children regularly enjoy looking at different books. One-year-old children are encouraged by staff to turn the pages in books and explore the different textures. They become engrossed in a story and begin to repeat parts of the book. Older children sit in the reading chair and make up stories to read to their peers.
• Parents are overwhelmingly positive about the care the setting provides. They comment that since their children have started, their independence skills have developed well. Parents say they receive consistent communication with the setting, and there is always time to talk about anything they may need to regarding their children. They particularly enjoy the daily updates they receive, with daily photographs of activities their children have taken part in.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively at the setting. Staff talk to parents regularly about children's emerging needs. When support from additional agencies is needed, staff swiftly arrange this and put effective plans in place to support children with their individual targets. Staff arrange additional transition sessions, when needed, to support children as they move to school.
• Staff interact with children as they play. Overall, these interactions are mainly of a consistently high quality and support children to develop their next steps in learning. However, at times, staff step in too quickly before allowing children time to have a go and solve problems themselves.
• Overall, staff support children to develop their mathematical skills well. However, on occasion, staff do not help older children to count in the correct order when they count incorrectly. They do not help older children to identify the correct shapes of more complex objects.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• allow children more time to solve problems independently
• improve staff's understanding of how to support older children to count in order and to identify more complex shapes correctly.