Greenacres Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff place children at the heart of their work at this welcoming nursery. Children are confident and settle well. They are excited to play with their friends. Children form strong relationships with their key person and the other staff working in the nursery. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Children independently explore the well-resourced environment. Staff plan activities taking into consideration children's interests and developmental needs. Children consistently display good levels of engagement. For example, children sit for an extended time as they complete a range of puzzles. They show good attitudes towards learning. As a result, they are ready to build on what they know and can do.

Children behave very well. Staff are excellent role models. They constantly model good manners and how to be kind and courteous when speaking with other adults and the children. As a result, children treat each other with respect. Staff support children with sharing and turn taking. They recognise the emotional difficulties with taking turns. For example, as young children share pens, staff respond by acknowledging they understand it is hard to share sometimes. Staff regularly praise them for their good behaviour and achievements. This helps children build their confidence and emotional well-being.

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

• Staff plan a well-sequenced and ambitious curriculum that focuses on children building secure foundations in the prime areas of learning. Staff implement this well, and children make progress from their starting points. Staff know what they want individual children to gain from the activities they have thoughtfully provided. This means children are well prepared for the next stage in their education.
• Overall, group times are well considered. Staff plan developmentally appropriate small-group times that engage children. However, larger group times do not always ensure that all children benefit from what is being taught. For example, when counting how many children there are, older children confidently count to 19 with ease. Younger children do not join in as they are just starting to learn to count. Consequently, they lose interest and miss out on planned learning opportunities.
• Staff support children to develop a love of books. Children sit captivated while listening to stories that are read to them. Staff use props to engage younger children to be involved in the story. Older children join in with familiar phrases and anticipate what will happen next.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. Babies babble and begin to repeat new words that staff use to support their emerging language. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as moderation, when talking about healthy eating. Children repeat this word to their friends when talking about different unhealthy foods. Staff engage children in conversations, valuing and responding to what they say. As a result, children become confident communicators.
• Overall, staff teach children how to be safe. Children are encouraged to challenge themselves and to learn how to take managed risks. For example, children learn to use safety knives and to climb trees in the garden. However, children are not provided with the opportunities to learn about how to use technology safely. Consequently, children are unable to understand the risks when using internet linked devices.
• Staff support children with their early mathematical skills. Younger children learn to use their fingers to represent numbers as they count the pieces of cheese they have at snack time. Older children carefully count the correct number of spots to match the numeral on their toy car. As children play a turn-taking game, they learn the names of different shapes and colours.
• Children are taught how to be healthy. Staff provide nutritional meals for all children. They work with parents and children to encourage eating a varied diet. Staff talk with children about visiting the dentist and the importance of cleaning their teeth and they encourage children to drink water throughout the day.
• Parents speak highly of this nursery and the staff team. Staff provide them with ideas on how they can support children at home. For example, reducing dummy time to support children's speech development. Parents express how happy and settled their children are and they feel well informed about their children's learning and development through regular feedback from staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of large-group times to ensure that all children benefit from the learning experience
• support children's understanding of online safety so they are able to identify the risks.