First Steps with Surestart

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel happy and safe in the nursery. They are excited to try new experiences and engage in a wide range of activities. Staff recognise that some of the children who attend prefer to learn outdoors. They adapt experiences so that they can be taken outside. For example, babies experiment in large water trays. They delight as they fill and empty containers and see who can make the biggest splash.

Managers and staff have identified the potential impact of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic on children's learning and development, particularly their social and emotional well-being. They recognise that children have had limited experiences outside of the home. Staff are supporting children through tailoring settling-in sessions to meet their individual needs. They offer children lots of reassurance and support.

Babies rapidly build their confidence as staff gently guide them to try challenging experiences. For example, staff encourage babies to stand, pull themselves up onto the different levels of furniture and to walk. Children are well behaved. Staff help them to understand the rules and boundaries in place. With support, children learn to share and take turns. For example, older children take turns to throw and kick balls to each other. Children practise their physical skills and develop their hand-to-eye coordination.

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

• The manager supports staff through regular supervision meetings and discusses their training needs. This helps staff to continuously improve their practice and provide a high-quality service for children and families. For example, staff have attended a course to help develop the already strong bonds with babies.
• Staff have a clear understanding of the skills they want to teach children, such as being independent. Children of all ages learn to put on their coats and wash their hands. However, this approach is not always consistently reinforced by staff. At times, staff complete simple tasks for children that they could attempt to do for themselves. For example, they feed children, wipe their noses and dry their hands, without encouraging them to try on their own first.
• Partnership working is strong. Staff establish good links with external professionals and other settings. Parents are very positive about the nursery and the staff. They state that their children are happy to attend. Parents comment that they feel well informed about what their child is learning and what they need to learn next.
• Staff focus on developing children's communication when they plan for their next steps in learning. They introduce new words and language that help children to develop their vocabulary. Stories, songs and rhymes are enjoyed by children of all ages. Staff provide opportunities for children to listen to the same stories and rhymes on multiple occasions. This helps children to become familiar with the words and concepts that the stories contain.
• Staff are aware of those children who speak English as an additional language. They make good use of information from parents to support children's understanding of English, alongside their own home language. For example, staff ask parents to provide key words and find out how these are pronounced. This helps staff to use familiar words with the children, alongside English.
• Children have time during their day to choose plentiful, good quality and accessible resources. Staff remain vigilant and quickly mop up spilt water. This helps to reduce hazards throughout the day. However, at times, staff do not plan the play space effectively. On occasions, the environment is disorganised and noise levels are high. This leads to some children becoming disengaged from purposeful and effective learning experiences. That said, children are excited and eager to learn, and join in with activities that interest them.
• Staff have confidence in the management of the nursery. They report that their workload is manageable. Staff comment that the introduction of a new system has made the planning of activities and for children's individual needs much easier. The management team has put methods in place to help staff to support each other. These complement the meetings and the observations with staff that the management team regularly completes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently help all children to develop their independence skills and to have high expectations of what children can manage to do themselves
• plan the organisation of the play areas more carefully, including the resources and equipment, in order to create a calm and positive learning environment for all children.