Greenwich Day Nursery And Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have a deep understanding of children in the nursery. They take the time to learn about each child's interests, home environment and developmental stage when they first join. This ensures a smooth settling-in process for children. An effective key-person system is in place that prioritises children's well-being and personal growth. Children are incredibly happy in the nursery. They form strong bonds with staff, who offer warm, sensitive and caring interactions. Children's behaviour is good as staff set clear expectations and boundaries, which they communicate at the start of each day. Children confidently remember the importance of sharing, taking turns and using good manners. The nursery has a calm and focused atmosphere, where all children engage in play harmoniously with one another.

Staff are committed to ensuring that all children make the best progress by implementing a well-planned curriculum that considers each child's development and interests. They focus on enhancing children's communication, language and social skills, particularly for children who speak English as an additional language. For instance, they use visual aids and key words from children's home languages. Staff encourage parents and carers to engage with the lending library and home learning packs to support their children's learning at home. Through introducing new vocabulary and commenting on children's play, staff help children to become confident communicators.

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

• The nursery has an inclusive approach to diversity. For example, children explore cultural celebrations, and staff support children's language, such as by using key words from their home language. Staff promote an awareness of children's individual backgrounds, which ensures that every child feels respected, valued and confident in their identity.
• Managers offer strong support to staff, personally and professionally, and staff greatly appreciate this. They ensure that staff attend relevant training, such as safeguarding, health and safety and managing injuries and accidents, to enhance their practice. Staff are also given time to pursue further qualifications.
• Staff regularly share information with parents to support their children's development, providing daily feedback at pick-up times. They also invite parents to attend workshops, such as a Christmas bauble-making session, to offer ideas for supporting children's learning at home.
• Parents highly appreciate the support that staff provide. They note how their children eagerly look forward to attending the nursery. Parents also value the additional information shared through the online app, which allows them to share updates of their children's learning experiences at home.
• Staff incorporate stories and singing into the daily routine to enhance children's early literacy skills. Children engage attentively as staff read to them, and staff provide opportunities to extend their learning through role play.
• Children have numerous opportunities to build their independence. For instance, they learn to use the toilet, wash their hands, put on their coats and serve their own food at mealtimes. As a result, children gain confidence in managing their own self-care.
• Managers collaborate with parents and professionals, including the company's inclusion team, to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They ensure that staff receive the necessary support to implement additional interventions and strategies to help all children to succeed.
• The nursery supports children to develop healthy attitudes towards food, oral health and physical activity at all stages of their development. Staff ensure that children experience a healthy lifestyle while in the nursery. They promote good habits and children's well-being throughout their time at the nursery.
• Staff actively support children to develop their language, communication and collaborative skills. For example, during group activities, they encourage conversation, turn-taking and group discussions. However, at times, the intended learning outcomes for these activities are not fully met. This is because staff do not consistently tailor the activities to extend children's learning appropriately or provide enough individual support. This can limit opportunities for children to deepen their understanding or fully engage with the learning experience.
• Staff support children to develop mathematical concepts by encouraging them to compare the size and quantity of different objects during play. For example, they engage children in activities where they measure, count and discuss the sizes of items. However, at times, staff do not consider how to explore and deepen children's understanding further of different mathematical concepts, such as measure.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their knowledge of how to meet the intended aims of the curriculum more effectively during group activities
• support children to deepen their knowledge and skills further of different mathematical concepts more consistently.