Foundations Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at the nursery and settle very quickly into their environment. They have close bonds with the staff, who are warm, kind and caring towards them. Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards their learning and are quick to get involved in different activities and experiences. Two-year-old children learn about different animals. Staff use a book to explain that a kangaroo has a 'pouch', which is where they keep their babies. Three-year-old children develop their fine-motor skills as they make dough. Children persevere while filling cups with flour and use their hands to mix the dough together. They use their imagination as they mould their dough. They talk about making a spider, and staff challenge their thinking as they discuss and count how many legs they might need to make. Children develop independence from an early age. Babies and toddlers happily help to tidy away toys. Older children wash their hands and manage their personal care independently.

Throughout the nursery, children are confident. Two-year-old children sing their favourite songs out loud to their peers. They receive praise and recognition from staff, which helps to build their self-esteem. Older children take pride in accepting additional responsibilities each day. For example, the 'line counter' counts the number of children lining up before going outdoors.

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

• The dedicated management team has made significant improvements since the last inspection. For example, managers and staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding, and robust recruitment procedures are now in place.
• The management team has devised a broad, well-sequenced curriculum that is understood and implemented effectively by the staff throughout the nursery.
• Staff receive regular supervision meetings to review their performance, well-being and children's progress. They are provided with regular training opportunities to support them to update their knowledge and skills.
• Staff get to know every child well. They regularly observe children and make assessments of their learning needs and interests. Staff use this information to identify what children need to learn next and plan activities to help them to make good progress.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive good support. The dedicated coordinator carefully assesses children's needs and puts detailed plans in place. They are swift to make referrals to other professionals to obtain further support for children with SEND, where needed. This helps to support children with SEND to reach their full potential.
• Children develop fluent language skills. Staff consistently talk to children and listen to what they have to say. They acknowledge babies' babbles and provide narration as they play. Staff support children to correctly pronounce words, such as those beginning with the letter 'b'. However, although staff ask children lots of questions, too many questions only require children to answer using single words. As a result, children's language skills are not always stretched to challenge their abilities.
• Parents are very complimentary about the staff and nursery. They say that their children are always happy to attend and are keen to talk about their day. Parents welcome the information they receive through an online app about their child's care and learning.
• Children consistently behave extremely well. Babies willingly pass toys to each other, and young children identify a visual card that illustrates having 'kind hands'. Children share resources with ease and form kind and respectful relationships with staff and their peers.
• The development of children's literacy is a high priority. Staff include books within their activities to show children how information can be obtained. Babies readily explore books independently, babbling as they look at the pictures and turn the pages. They eagerly snuggle on staff's laps as they listen to a story. Older children develop a strong love for reading too. After lunch, they are keen to choose a story. They lie down with their peers and joyfully giggle as they use the illustrations to tell their own stories together.
• Staff provide children with a varied range of materials to explore. For example, they have real fruits and vegetables in the role-play kitchen area, and they provide different cereals as a base for their animal play. Staff model words such as 'crunch' as they move the animals across the cereal. However, they do not always ensure that children use these resources for their intended purposes, to help children to fully engage and benefit from the planned learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their use of questioning skills to promote children's communication and language skills even further
• look more closely at how activities are implemented to help children to use resources provided for their intended purpose so that they remain engaged and fully benefit from the planned learning outcomes.