Golden Apples Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provider has reflected on the local community and needs of the children attending the nursery. They tailor the resources and staff training to help all children enjoy a rich learning experience. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported as staff build effective partnerships with parents and other professionals to understand children's specific needs. All children make good progress relative to their individual development.

Staff consistently provide a calm and nurturing environment. They have children at the heart of their practice and show respect towards them. Staff consistently seek children's consent before supporting hygiene routines, such as changing nappies and wiping noses. Children respond positively and show good levels of engagement. However, sometimes older children are not supported with some instances of unwanted behaviour.

Staff working with babies provide a nurturing and calm environment. They understand how to support and meet the needs of babies. Staff gather meaningful information from parents about babies' home routines and their emerging likes and dislikes. They sensitively help babies become familiar with the nursery and their key person. Babies settle well and show confidence to explore the resources provided and to try new things. They eagerly explore paint and the changing texture when staff add shaving foam.

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

• The provider has established a curriculum that is understood and implemented well by staff. This helps children build on what they know and can do. It carefully sequences learning to equip children with the skills and knowledge they need to be ready for the eventual move to school.
• Parents are positive about the nursery. They say that their children enjoy coming and that they are safe. Parents state that staff provide regular communication about their child's day and what they need to learn next. They say that staff share information about how they can support their child's ongoing learning at home.
• Staff say they enjoy working at the nursery. They say that they feel valued and well supported to fulfil their roles. The provider ensures staff receive regular meetings with their line manager that help to identify any training or development needs.
• Staff implement the provider's policies and procedures well. For instance, children's dietary requirements and preferences are well managed. The menu provides children with a varied and nutritional range of meals. Children eat well. Staff encourage children to use cutlery from the start. They sit with children and chat with them as they eat, developing mealtimes into a social affair. Children learn about good hygiene routines. Older children know they wash their hands before they eat food. Staff clear up and discard any food that has dropped to the floor.
• Children listen to staff and follow simple instructions. However, sometimes children in the pre-school room lose interest and some behaviour issues are not addressed by staff. This tends to be when staff are preparing for meals. Although children help to tidy up, they do not consistently receive guidance that helps them to understand what is expected when they move to school. Staff do not always help children understand that some of their actions are not safe. For example, some children run inside, kneel on chairs when eating and, on one occasion, placed a dinner knife in their mouth while waiting for their food.
• Staff working with two-year-old children provide a range of activities that intend to help them learn to share and take turns. However, sometimes they do not adapt teaching to ensure all children have opportunities to access such activities and benefit from the intended learning.
• Children become confident talkers. Staff seek to engage them in conversation throughout the day, introducing new words and narrating their actions. They read stories and sing songs with children who join in with great enthusiasm. However, there is less focus to help children build an understanding about some aspects of mathematical language. Children hear staff count and begin to use numbers in their play, but staff do not always explain space and measure. For example, when introducing sieves and different sized containers, staff do not explain what is happening to the soil or introduce language to compare quantity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff understand how to support older children's behaviour
• enhance staff knowledge of how to adapt teaching, so that all two-year-old children benefit from planned learning
• build on staff interactions with children, so that they learn and understand early mathematical concepts of space and measure.