Goldensparks Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form very good attachments with staff and show that they feel happy and secure. They arrive with big smiles on their faces and are eager to start the day. Children benefit from a rich array of activities and respond well to the welcoming and nurturing environment.

Babies show good interest when exploring shadow puppets and 'What's in the box?' games. This supports their early communication skills and develops their concentration. They also enjoy listening to stories such as 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' where they count and learn about different fruits. Toddlers have fun experiencing play dough. Staff effectively demonstrate how to roll and sculpt and support children to discuss different colours, shapes and sizes. This helps their early mathematical awareness. They also have fun playing with animals in sand. This helps to broaden their knowledge of the world.

Pre-school children show great enthusiasm as they make slime. They enjoy making predictions and discussing different textures and smells. They also like planting seeds and show good knowledge about how plants need sunlight and rain to grow. Furthermore, they show good fine-motor skills, perseverance and independence as they explore different tools and engage in woodwork projects.

Staff act as positive role models. They have high expectations for children's learning and help them to understand about boundaries in a clear way. Children show good enjoyment and engagement and behave very well.

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

• Leaders are ambitious and dedicated. They are working hard towards their pursuit for excellence. They frequently reflect on the setting's strengths and areas for further development. In addition, they offer a focused programme of staff coaching and professional development. This helps to create good quality care and education for children.
• Staff have fun and original ideas and make learning fun for children. The broad range of stimulating activities help children to learn through their senses and helps to develop their curiosity. All ages of children display positive attitudes towards new experiences and learning.
• Children with English as an additional language receive good levels of extra support. For instance, staff learn about their home language when they join, and seek familiar words to help them to settle in. They also incorporate books and music in their home language. This helps to create a sense of belonging.
• Children learn about diversity in a positive way. For instance, children enjoy learning about each other's similarities and differences when celebrating different festivals and cultural days. This is evident when they create Diwa lamps and Rangoli patterns when learning about Diwali. This helps children to develop respect and interest in other's lives that are different to their own.
• Children have daily opportunities to be active and to play outdoors. For instance, children have fun when visiting a local park and show good physical skills when balancing and climbing. They also show clear road safety awareness when crossing the road.
• Children are extremely independent. They enjoy having responsibilities and carrying out tasks in their classrooms. Young babies show very good independence when eating. This builds children's self-esteem and helps them to build a positive view of themselves.
• Staff are loving and attentive. They frequently offer praise and encouragement as children play. This helps children to develop good emotional well-being and develop a clear understanding of expected behaviour.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength. Parents are extremely complimentary about their experience at the nursery. They state that their children love attending and are making good progress. Most express that communication is very good and they feel fully involved in their children's learning. They also discuss a great sense of community.
• Staff plan a range of experiences that expose children to new language. However, on occasion, staff working with babies and younger children do not always maximise these learning opportunities to extend and challenge children's learning to the highest level.
• Pre-school children access an extensive range of activities. However, at times, staff expect children to move on quite quickly and do not always give them enough time to freely explore in a way that deepens their learning to the highest possible level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff knowledge and skills to help raise younger children's communication and language skills and offer them further challenge during play
• provide older children more time to freely explore activities and their own ideas to extend their concentration and learning even further.