Gapa Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show a sense of belonging in the nursery. They look at photos of themselves with staff and discuss what activities they are doing. This helps children to remember previous learning. New children who attend the nursery are provided with comfort and reassurance from staff to help them settle, supporting their emotional well-being. Furthermore, children have seamless transitions when they move rooms in the nursery. They are already familiar with staff and children in the next room because they see them daily, wave and share toys with them.

Children are given tasks to complete, which they show they enjoy. Staff ask them to help clean tables and tidy away toys. Children are keen to help and receive stickers and verbal praise from staff for their achievements, helping them to recognise their positive behaviour.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) have targets in place to support their individual needs. Strategies include staff giving children choices and encouraging them to use gestures to communicate their needs. Children are supported to develop their physical skills. For example, staff offer younger children suggestions and ideas when they begin to develop their balance and coordination. This includes asking children to hold out their arms as they walk across a beam.

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

• The support that children with SEND receive is effective. The leadership team puts early intervention in place, in partnership with other professionals, to support children's individual needs. Staff attend training courses with parents to support children's needs, such as to learn sign language to show children how to communicate.
• Members of the close staff team are supported with their well-being and practice. For instance, they attend staff meetings to discuss individual children, reflect on the experiences they offer children and to identify professional development.
• The leadership team uses additional funding that some children receive effectively to support their individual needs. This includes arranging for children to see, interact with and learn about different animals. Furthermore, additional sessions are provided to help children to be ready for their move on to school. However, the leadership team does not discuss with parents how the money is being spent so they are aware of how this benefits their individual children.
• Staff share information with parents to keep them informed about their children's learning. They source food from local supermarkets and provide this for parents to take home. This contributes to promoting children's health and well-being.
• Staff understand how to sequence children's learning. For example, they provide experiences for children to scoop and pour water during their play outdoors. This helps children to develop skills to manage their self-care, such as to pour their milk accurately from a jug and into a cup at snack time. This contributes to children's developing independence.
• Staff complete training courses to help develop their knowledge of how to identify factors that contribute to children's behaviour. This helps them to identify ways to support children. Staff encourage children to hold up their hand and to say 'stop' to express to others their views. Furthermore, staff ask some children to pretend to turn on their ears before speaking to them. This is to encourage children to listen before giving them instructions, such as to come indoors at lunchtime.
• Staff plan activities for children to build on their understanding of feelings and emotions. However, during some of these group times for older children, staff do not plan and implement these to encourage all children to focus and concentrate. Therefore, they are not able to learn as much as possible from the learning offered.
• The curriculum focuses on supporting and closing gaps in children's communication and language skills. Staff make the most of daily routines to support children's early speaking skills, such as singing songs with babies when they arrive and talking to children when changing their nappies. However, staff do not use books and stories highly effectively to support children's speaking skills. This includes in the nursery and to support parents with their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• share with parents how additional funding is benefitting their children's care and learning
• strengthen the planning and implementation of group times for older children to encourage all children to focus and concentrate
• help all children to develop a love of books to support their speaking skills in the nursery and at home.