Good as Gold Child Care Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and enjoy spending time at this welcoming nursery. Staff greet children warmly, and they settle quickly. The children know their routine well. This gives them a sense of security and builds on their confidence. Children develop strong attachments to their key person, who is on hand to welcome them with smiles and general conversation. Children are eager to learn and excitedly explore the activities on offer. Staff recognise those children who may need reassurance and act on this quickly with extra cuddles. This supports children's emotional well-being.

The manager and staff have a strong ethos for the nursery. They want children to learn life skills that develop their independence and ensure they are ready for the next stage in their learning. Staff help children to develop their skills as they encourage them to try to put on and fasten their coats. Staff support children to manage their own self-care routines, such as with toileting, washing and drying their own hands and brushing their teeth.

Staff are positive role models and promote appropriate behaviour. They model expectations, give children gentle reminders and teach the importance of sharing. Children move around the setting carefully, share resources and consider the needs of others. Children are developing an understanding of their own emotions and are very well behaved.

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

• Leaders and staff are committed to providing high-quality care and early years education to children and their families. Leaders have a good understanding of the curriculum they plan and the rationale behind this. Staff know the children well. They plan and create activities and learning experiences that motivate children to learn. However, sometimes, the links between what children already know and what they need to do next are not fully considered. Some staff do not tailor activities successfully and identify what they want children to learn next to fully focus on their next steps and make the progress they are capable of.
• Staff support children well to develop their communication and language skills. They talk to them respectfully and model positive interactions. Staff consistently get down to children's level and talk about what they are doing. They use a rich range of vocabulary with children and read stories to them throughout the day. This helps children to develop well in their language skills.
• Physical development is promoted well. Children take part in sessions where they are encouraged to jump, hop and stretch. Staff support children's hand-eye coordination as they carefully fill containers with small beans. Children make good progress in their physical development.
• A particular strength of the curriculum is mathematics, which children love to learn. They know the colours and shapes well. Staff support children to count and recognise numbers. They spend time in groups sorting colours and counting blocks. Language is used well, such as when decorating the Christmas trees. Children make patterns and use words such as 'long' and 'short'. This means children go to school with a good understanding of mathematics.
• Staff enjoy working in this nursery. Leaders implement a programme of supervision and training to help develop the practice and knowledge of staff. However, current strategies are not used to best effect to help staff to develop their teaching skills and practice to a consistently high level across the team.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are kept well informed about their children's day, learning and progress. Staff provide daily feedback and parents have access to an online app with information about their child's care and learning needs. Parents speak highly about what the nursery provides. They say their children are 'thriving' and comment positively about the 'lovely, welcoming staff' and the 'home-from-home' approach.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of the curriculum intent so that teaching consistently focuses on the individual learning needs of each child
• strengthen the individual support, mentoring and coaching of all staff to improve their skills and the quality of teaching.