Guiseley Children's Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted with a warm welcome from the friendly manager and team when they arrive at nursery. The manager has implemented a robust settling-in procedure which ensures that staff know the children well before they start. Staff develop lovely bonds with their key children. For example, babies enjoy listening to their key person sing while enjoying cuddles. At home time, older children excitedly wave goodbye to staff and children in the playrooms. This demonstrates how safe, happy and secure children feel at the setting.

The manager has developed ambitious learning programmes for each playroom. These build carefully on what children already know and can do. Each room provides appropriate challenge and reflects the high expectations staff have for the children. The learning programmes prepare and support children to move on to their next stage of learning well, including school. This helps children make good progress at this nursery. Children behave well. Staff set clear boundaries and act as good role models for the children. Children happily share toys and show kindness to their friends. For example, children encourage one another to find their waterproofs and put on their wellingtons. The playrooms are richly resourced, and children move around with confidence.

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

• Staff promote children's language development extremely well. Children across all the playrooms enjoy meaningful back-and-forth interactions and conversations with staff. Staff ask carefully constructed questions to encourage children to think and link up their ideas. Children are given plenty of time to process their thoughts and formulate their words before responding to staff. Staff introduce children to new words during activities. This helps children develop their language and become confident talkers.
• Staff promote literacy development very well. Children enjoy hearing the carefully chosen stories in every playroom. Children become familiar with these. For example, the pre-school room took the 'Bear' story to the local woods to bring the pages to life. Children excitedly anticipate refrains at story time. Children in the pre-school room regularly receive books to read at home. This work supports children to develop a love of reading and stories over time.
• Mathematical development is embedded into the nursery routines and activities. For example, two-year-old children count the steps as they walk down the stairs and count the bubbles in soapy puddles. Older children count out their potatoes at lunchtime. Staff extend children's mathematical learning by introducing new words related to size, such as 'huge' and 'tiny'. These activities support children to develop a good understanding of number, quantity and size.
• Overall, children in the nursery are supported well. However, at times, quieter children are not fully supported to join in during group activities compared to their more confident peers. This means that children are not always fully engaged in activities and benefitting from the planned learning.
• Overall, the daily routines work well. However, staff do not always ensure that some routines are well organised so that children are always engaged and learning is maximised. For example, at lunchtime, children are expected to wait for all their friends to have been served their food and seated before they can start to eat. This means there are times during the day when children do not benefit from consistent engagement.
• Children enjoy visits to the local community. For example, children have visited Heskworth Farm. They regularly visit the local pet shop, park and woods. These activities support children to learn about the wider world around them and communities beyond their own.
• The manager supports the professional development of staff. Staff are supported to access training to further their understanding of child development. For example, recent training in communication and language development has improved the quality of interactions across the nursery.
• Partnerships with parents are meaningful. Staff keep parents well informed about their child's progress and provide parents with ways to support learning at home. Parents are highly complimentary about the nursery and feel that staff 'go over and above' to support their children and families.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to engage more effectively with less confident and quieter children to maximise their learning
• develop the organisation of snacks and mealtimes so that children are fully engaged throughout.