Giggle and Grow Glodwick

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show high levels of self-esteem and are settled in this nursery. They benefit from high quality interactions from staff during play. Staff ask questions to probe children's thinking. For instance, while washing toy cars, they think about what happens when foam is mixed with water as they squeeze it out of sponges. Children enjoy listening to stories and are read to in English and their home language. This helps support their understanding, speaking and listening skills. Furthermore, staff sing to children to further introduce them to new words, songs and rhymes.

Children join in with tidying up and enjoy taking on a role within the nursery. They use brushes and a toy vacuum to clean up the floor after a messy activity. This helps promote independence and develop a sense of pride for their own environment. Children are consistently reminded to take turns and be kind to their friends, especially when they struggle to regulate their emotions. Staff gently support them to share. As a result, children are happy in their learning and are proud when they achieve. They share and show off what they have produced, such as their rolled out mixture when making 'roti'.

Children are offered a range of healthy home-cooked meals and snacks. Staff help children learn about the benefits of eating fruit and vegetables to support their understanding of healthy lifestyle choices. Children spend time in the large outdoor area where they can practise climbing, running and balancing to build their core strength. Additionally, children enjoy manipulating dough with their hands and use tools. This helps support their fine motor skills and sensory exploration.

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

• A range of information is regularly shared with parents about what their children have enjoyed and how they can attend events in the nursery. However, strategies to help parents understand their child's learning are not always successful. This means some parents are unsure of what their child is learning next or how they can help this further at home, if they wish to, to support continued progress.
• Overall, children are happy and engage in a range of opportunities staff provide for them. They explore and choose where they wish to play and know how they can access further resources. However, occasionally, children become distracted. Staff do not always recognise when to support children to take part in purposeful play that helps their learning to continue more effectively.
• Children use mathematical concepts during their play. They use words such as 'bigger' when comparing sizes of the dough they roll. Furthermore, they count items as they play and talk about building towers 'taller'. In the sensory room, children use the light box to investigate and recognise numbers.
• Leadership is strong. Leaders and staff have clear intentions for children and know how to plan the overall curriculum to meet their needs. Children explore inclusively in a rich and carefully planned environment that supports their curiosity. Leaders have identified trends in children's development and adapted the curriculum to help close gaps that children may present on entry. They use a range of strategies to broaden children's learning and ensure children continue to make progress from the start.
• Children's unique needs and traditions are celebrated in the setting to help children and families feel valued. Children learn to respect others. They explore the local community and learn about other people that represent the diverse world they live in. Furthermore, children explore resources that reflect a range of cultures and disabilities to help them become familiar with differences.
• Children with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported. Gaps in learning are swiftly identified and monitored to ensure they keep up with their development. Children with SEND are highly valued members of the nursery family and integrate well into daily routines and learning opportunities.
• Staff are well supported, both personally and professionally. The long-standing staff team helps children feel safe and secure and enables staff to feel confident among colleagues. This creates a supportive environment where staff feel they can share their evaluations of their practice. Staff have good levels of self-esteem and are confident in their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance partnerships with all parents and help them to understand their child's development and next steps in learning to help promote continuity of learning at home
• support staff to recognise when children need help to remain engaged in their learning.