Flying Start Day Nursery Moorlands

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and children arrive happy and confidently leave their parents and carers at the door. Leaders have good procedures in place to support new starters at the nursery. Parents complete forms and share care information during settling-in visits. Staff are sensitive and attentive to children's individual needs. For example, children are offered comforters from home to help them settle. This supports their emotional well-being.

Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills well. They plan exciting and enjoyable topics, such as planets and space. Children beam with excitement as they confidently name planets, such as Jupiter. Staff read stories with enthusiasm to nurture a love of books and develop children's literacy skills. For example, children listen intently and join in with the actions and words as staff read 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'. Older children look at books independently, turning the pages one by one. This helps children to develop their growing vocabulary.

Children are sociable and behave well. Staff have high expectations of behaviour and value children's choices as they play. This helps to promote children's confidence and well-being. All children demonstrate a positive attitude to their learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

• Staff promote children's physical development. Children have ample opportunities to access the outdoors. They experience a range of activities that support their physical development. For example, they run, jump and ride small bicycles in the large outside spaces. Younger children use paintbrushes to make marks. This supports their developing large- and small-muscle skills in preparation for later learning.
• Overall, staff promote children's independence and health well. For example, they teach children to use cutlery, feed themselves at mealtimes and put their coats on to go outside. Older children know to wash their hands before mealtimes and are confident using the toilets. However, during some messy play activities, children pick up and eat food which has been dropped on the floor during the activity. Staff do not always consistently support children to understand how to keep themselves healthy.
• Children go on outings in the local community that are linked to the curriculum. For example, they visit local parks to look at daffodils and the changes of the season. Furthermore, children have created tea lights with notes of kindness to hide in the community for others to find. This helps children to develop an understanding of feelings and the wider world around them.
• Children with SEND are supported very well. Leaders and staff work hard to ensure that children and their families have access to relevant support agencies. They communicate frequently with parents and work hard to support children. This helps staff to precisely plan children's next steps.
• Staff support children's behaviour. They are good role models who have high expectations for children's behaviour. Staff praise children when they make good choices. This supports children's positive attitude to learning and promotes their self-esteem and well-being.
• Leaders have developed a highly ambitious curriculum for all children. They place a high focus on children's personal, social and emotional development to prepare them for their transition to school. Overall, staff implement the well-sequenced curriculum. However, children are not consistently supported to build on what they know and can already do. Occasionally, staff interactions with children are variable. For example, staff do not always adapt activities or how they ask questions so that all children involved can extend their learning to the next level. Staff also automatically clean children's noses and do not support them to learn how to do this independently.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. They value the support staff give them to help their child make progress in their learning. New parents say that staff go above and beyond and that the settling-in session really helps them get to know their child's key person.
• Staff speak positively of the leaders. They receive a detailed induction and regular supervision sessions. Leaders arrange team meetings to help staff to feel valued and content in their role. Staff work well together in their own rooms and across the nursery. This helps to promote consistency and supports children's transition as they move up to the next room.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deliver consistent messages to children that support healthy choices and promote good health
• identify when to offer more support to staff to address inconsistencies in the quality of staff day-to-day interactions with children.