Freedom Day Care Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily arrive at the nursery, excited and eager to start their day and investigate the activities provided. They are greeted by caring and happy staff and leave their parents with ease. Children receive good quality teaching. They are very confident and good communicators. Children are inquisitive. For example, they ask visitors lots of questions and enthusiastically tell them what they like best about their time at nursery. Children speak with confidence as their share their emotions during interactive story time and learn new vocabulary to help them express their feelings. They are spoken to respectfully and receive encouragement and praise. Children's behaviour is good and it is evident they have established close bonds with their key person.

Children relish their time outdoors. They know to wear boots and wet suits and have the skills they need to do this independently. Children have ample space to run, climb and balance on the equipment provided. They negotiate space well as they steer ride-on toys, careful not to bump into their friends. They make patterns in cornflour sensory activities and use large chalks to draw outdoors. Children show a great interest in the alphabet and ask how to spell words. They make good attempts to make the words, using magnetic letters.

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

• Children benefit from a broad curriculum and the quality of teaching is good. Staff use initial assessments well and know what the children need to learn next. They positively follow children's own interests when planning activities. Children enjoy independent choice of quality resources and equipment and show an eagerness to try new things.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents say their children have flourished since attending nursery. They comment they are greeted by happy, polite and helpful staff, who go 'above and beyond' expectations. Parents say their children's confidence and communication is exceptional and are kept informed about their children's next steps. They welcome the ideas and activities provided to help support their children's learning at home.
• Children's speech and language are supported. Staff provide running commentary during activities and introduce new words to extend their vocabulary. For example, children interested in the human body are provided with resources to support this. Discussion takes place about different body parts. They talk about the skeleton and how this can be seen if you have an x-ray. Lots of mathematical language is used, for example children use scales as they weigh sponges and pine cones and predict which will be heavier or lighter.
• The nursery is fully inclusive, and all children make good progress, including those who need additional support. The special educational needs coordinator is knowledgeable and experienced. Positive relationships have been established with outside agencies to ensure that all children reach their full potential.
• Babies' individual routines are respected and managed well in a bright and cosy baby room. The nurturing staff are attentive. Babies demonstrate they feel safe and secure as there is an effective key-person system. They giggle during interactions with staff and approach them for cuddles when they need reassurance. They have fun painting their hands and make prints on paper. The baby room has been refurbished and now provides babies with a calming, clean eating area, where they are fully supported at mealtimes.
• Staff feel supported through supervision and daily communication with the managers. They speak enthusiastically about their role and feel valued. The managers are 'hands on' to support staff and observe their practice. While managers acknowledge and encourage continuous professional development, they have not sought further ways to focus on precise training opportunities to ensure staff can build on their existing knowledge.
• Children are inquisitive and enjoy some role-play opportunities. Even the youngest children enthusiastically make cups of tea and dinner, using play foods and inviting staff into their play. However, some additional resources are not always readily available to fully support children's imaginary play and to captivate and challenge their interests further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the use of more targeted professional development opportunities to strengthen staff's existing knowledge to support children's learning to an even higher level
• develop the role-play areas, so that children can explore the wide range of resources and develop their own play and ideas.