Great Child Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the nursery. They benefit from warm and nurturing relationships with staff. Children enjoy taking part in a wide range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. This encourages them to take reasonable risks in their play. For example, they balance on crates and negotiate space as they use ride on cars and bikes.

Children's behaviour is good. Staff encourage them to talk about their feelings and those of others. Children play cooperatively. They giggle and laugh together during role play. Children demonstrate good levels of concentration and perseverance. For example, they become absorbed in making marks with paint using a range of different tools. This helps children to develop the skills they need for early writing and helps prepare them for the next stage in their learning.

Children are developing good levels of independence. They serve their own food, pour water into cups and put on their own coat. Staff teach children to follow good hygiene routines, such as handwashing, and explain why these are important. Children learn about the things that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise, eating a balanced diet and looking after their teeth.

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

• The manager, deputy and staff team have worked hard to drive improvements since the last inspection. They have implemented changes to improve the quality of the nursery. As a result, they now provide a calm and productive learning environment. Children enjoy plenty of learning experiences, which they are eager to take part in.
• Staff value each child as a unique individual. They use children's interests to plan educational activities and organise the learning environment. Staff use effective teaching methods to support children to make good progress from their starting points. They carefully explain, demonstrate and ask questions that encourage children to think for themselves. For example, they ask, 'what do you think will happen if you mix red and green paint together?'
• Children show a positive approach to learning. They concentrate, enjoy activities and are curious to learn new things. Children use their senses to explore ice, touching it with their tongue, lips and fingers. Staff support and extend children's learning by introducing new descriptive words, such as 'hot, cold, melting and runny'. However, despite these positive interactions, this practice is not consistently extended to routine activities, such as mealtimes.
• Children gain a good understanding of mathematical concepts. They confidently use positional language and demonstrate an understanding of full and empty as they pour water down plastic guttering.
• When exploring the taste and smell of fruit in the role-play area, staff ask children to describe what a lemon tastes like. Children comment that it tastes 'sour'. Staff read stories in an engaging way. They ask older children questions that help them to focus their attention and recall the sequence of the story.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported to practise English and some words in their home language. However, there are fewer opportunities to help children use their home language in a range of different ways.
• Managers and staff provide a safe and secure environment. They make good use of risk assessment to help identify and minimise any hazards in all areas used by children.
• Staff work closely with parents and other professionals involved in children's care and learning. They regularly liaise with them to seek advice, review children's progress and set development goals. Children who are in receipt of additional funding are supported well. The manager ensures that any additional funding supports children's individual needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the quality of staff interactions with children, particularly during routine activities, such as mealtimes
• provide further opportunities to help children hear and use their home language during play.