Fledgelings Day Nursery LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and babies demonstrate that they are happy at this nursery, where staff are warm and welcoming. They confidently leave their parents at the door and quickly settle into the nursery routine. Children, generally, show a positive attitude to their learning. They are motivated and eager to join in.

Children engage well in activities and are keen to demonstrate what they know and can do. They excitedly choose from a range of learning opportunities, indoors and outside. Staff have high expectations for the children. They find out what the children already know and use this information effectively to extend on their learning. For instance, children learn about different sea creatures during an imaginative play experience. They discuss what they know about being environmentally friendly and how littering and single use plastic affect the Earth's wildlife. Staff use fact and story books effectively to help enhance children's knowledge and understanding. Babies enjoy join listening to stories and join in with nursery rhymes, using words and actions. This helps them to develop their communication and language skills.

Children gain a good understanding of safety. For example, young children know to walk down the stairs in single file and hold carefully onto the rail in order to keep themselves safe. Children have many opportunities to develop physical skills. For example, babies navigate their way over the soft play and older children explore the climbing equipment. Children create their own obstacle courses and staff challenge them to walk across the beam or leap to the next stepping stone. This helps enhance their balance and coordination skills.

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

• Staff get to know children and their families well and they regularly communicate with parents. Parents are very happy with the setting and the progress their children make. They report that they know what their children are learning and how to support them at home. Parents particularly praise the 'parents' evenings' hosted by staff as an effective way of communicating their children's learning needs.
• Older children learn to manage their self-care needs on their own. For instance, they follow thorough handwashing routines and learn to dress for outdoor play. Children help with small tasks, such as setting up the playroom and selecting the resources on offer, which helps them to gain a sense of responsibility. Staff effectively support children to help prepare them for the move to school. They learn to recognise the letters in their names and develop good early writing skills.
• Managers take an active role in overseeing the nursery provision and pursue continued development. They are supportive of staff and help them to access training opportunities to extend their knowledge of how children learn. They know staff's strengths and identify aspects of their practice that could be further developed.
• Staff support children's early communication skills particularly well. Baby room staff provide babies with a narrative to their exploration, which helps them to learn new vocabulary that is relevant to their experiences. With older children, staff consistently introduce new vocabulary and model the correct pronunciation of words to support children's understanding and speaking skills.
• Staff have a good understanding of the curriculum and how to promote children's learning. Overall, their interactions with children support their learning effectively. Staff mainly use children's interests well to plan learning experiences that build on these. Occasionally, staff do not follow children's lead in their play well enough. At these times, they do not fully enhance children's self-chosen play, to help build further on their learning.
• The special educational needs coordinators maintain strong partnership with parents, other agencies and staff to reduce any gaps in children's development. They makes sure that any developmental concerns are responded to quickly. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in all activities.
• Overall, staff manage children's and babies' behaviour well. Staff are very calm and gently help children to engage in play and daily routines in positive ways. Occasionally, staff do not explain or discuss with children the possible impact of their actions on themselves and others, to help them securely understand expectations of their behaviour.
• Staff support children well to help them understand diversity in age-appropriate ways. Staff promote respect and teach children to understand what makes them unique.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's awareness of responding to children's spontaneous interests, to help provide more opportunities to extend their learning
• strengthen the way staff explain things to children to consistently help them gain a better understanding about expectations of their behaviour.