Happitots Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive very happy and ready to learn at this welcoming nursery. Staff greet them with warm smiles and lots of enthusiasm. They build loving relationships with children from the outset. Children readily approach staff for any help or reassurance. Staff gather detailed information from parents when children start to help them to feel valued and comfortable. For instance, they collect and use key words in children's home languages. Staff provide plenty of praise and encouragement to children across the nursery. This helps to promote their confidence and self-esteem. Staff are positive role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children mimic staff's good qualities. Toddlers successfully remember ways to minimise potential problems, such as using polite ways to tell other children, who want the same toy, that they need to wait their turn.

Leaders and staff know children well. They provide a positive learning environment with exciting activities based on children's interests and needs. For example, babies explore a variety of real objects in the sensory room. They learn to make soft and loud sounds when tapping wooden sticks together. Staff provide real shells in a quiet area for toddlers to listen to, and talk about, the sounds they hear. Staff organise hands-on experiences to teach pre-school children about the life cycle of a plant. Children thoroughly enjoy learning new facts. Staff recognise that such opportunities allow children to repeat and refine their skills.

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

• The manager strives to provide the best quality of education and care. She works closely with the company's operations lead to evaluate the effectiveness of the provision. For instance, they regularly review the curriculum, adjusting it so that it is broad, varied and interesting. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points.
• Children gain knowledge and skills to manage their own self-care skills and safety. Staff support children to persevere when putting on their coats, as well as knowing when they need to take a drink of water. In addition, they place a high priority on teaching children about online safety. Staff share relevant story books with children to help them identify possible dangers, for example, advertisements popping up on their electronic devices.
• Staff enhance children's natural curiosity well. Their positive interactions help children to develop across all areas of learning. For example, staff sit closely with babies and share simple stories, such as 'Dear Zoo'. Babies excitedly open the flaps to reveal different animals. They hear staff name the animals. Babies remember the sounds each animal makes, such as, 'rah' for a lion. Toddlers play in a large sand pit outdoors. Staff model how to use spades to collect sand and encourage children to join in when counting how many they pour into a bucket. Staff teach pre-school children facts about the nursery's pet hamster. Children proudly recall that hamsters are 'nocturnal', eat seeds and store food in their cheek pouches.
• Staff develop children's understanding of how to adopt healthy lifestyles. The nursery chef prepares well-balanced, home-cooked meals. She also works with parents to plan personalised menus for children who have specific dietary needs. During mealtimes, staff talk to children about the benefits of eating a varied diet. Children actively jump, run and balance in the garden with increasing control. Staff support children to notice the difference in their heart rates, before and after exercise. In this way, children develop an understanding of how to keep healthy and stay fit.
• Overall, staff provide a language-rich environment. They communicate well with younger children as they play, narrating what is happening. Staff with older children encourage them to reflect on past learning experiences. However, occasionally, staff ask too many questions in quick succession. During these times, they accept short responses from children. Staff do not always give children enough time to think clearly and express their thoughts in a more detailed way. In addition, when large groups of mixed ages take place, the older, more confident children call out answers to questions staff pose. This means the younger and less confident children find it difficult to engage and quickly lose interest.
• The manager and staff form strong partnerships with parents and other professionals who are involved in children's care. Parents are highly complimentary about staff and how well they are supporting their children to make progress. Staff provide many suggestions to parents to support their children's learning and care at home. This helps to promote continuity to meet children's needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements to monitor and support staff to identify when to take action to address minor inconsistencies in practice.