Happy Days

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and eager to play in this welcoming nursery. Leaders are committed to ensuring that children's learning is supported from the minute they walk through the door. The curriculum focuses on provoking children's imaginations and then allowing them to choose the direction of their learning. Staff support this well, for example, by providing resources that help children to develop and extend their own ideas. Careful observations and assessments of children's knowledge and skills help staff to support all children to make good progress across all areas of learning.

Staff clearly enjoy their role, and their morale is high. This contributes to the very positive atmosphere in this nursery. Children are remarkably confident in their play and are keen to share their learning with others. For example, they excitedly show adults letters and cards that they have written, and invite them to join them in the messy tray to explore. Children benefit from praise and encouragement from staff, which helps them to develop a sense of pride and high levels of self-esteem. Warm relationships with familiar staff support children's sense of security and belonging very well. Children are happy in their play and enjoy their learning very much.

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

• Children are highly motivated to learn. They become absorbed in enjoyable activities during their independent play, which help them to build on their knowledge and skills. Staff interact well with children at these times, to maximise their learning. For example, staff introduce an awareness of numbers to toddlers, encouraging them to count the bricks while making a house for the 'Three Little Pigs'.
• Whole-group activities form a regular part of the routine. For example, pre-school children gather for 'welcome time' where they sing songs together and plan their day. Staff value these opportunities to develop children's communication skills and sense of belonging. However, staff do not consistently organise these sessions to ensure that all children benefit. Some children disengage and lose interest when, for example, they are overwhelmed by too much information or too many choices.
• Assessments of children's progress are comprehensive. This helps staff to identify children who may be at risk of falling behind in some aspects of their learning and development. Swift interventions, such as focused small-group activities, help children to catch up. For example, staff clearly model speech sounds while children help to make cupcakes, supporting them to make more progress in their language development.
• Staff encourage children to develop friendships. They are quick to notice minor disagreements between children and support them well to resolve their conflicts.
• For example, when children take toys from one another, staff help them to find ways to share and take turns. They talk about feelings and teach children about the impact that their actions can have on others. Children learn to be tolerant and to consider one another's feelings.
• Leaders are committed to continuous improvement. For example, they have introduced new equipment outdoors to better support children's physical development. However, they have not fully considered the most-effective ways to identify and address minor weaknesses in staff's teaching. For example, staff who teach children about letter sounds have not been supported to learn how to do so appropriately.
• Partnerships with parents and carers are a priority for staff and leaders. They acknowledge the importance of sharing information with parents, and do so in a variety of ways, which include written daily diaries and an online application. This encourages discussion about children's learning and progress and helps parents to further support their children's early education at home.
• Staff encourage children to be independent, for example, by teaching them to manage their own clothing and serve their own meals. Children enjoy the role of being a 'special helper' during some daily routines, which helps to teach them about responsibility. Staff are committed to supporting children's sense of self and their self-esteem. Children have plenty of opportunities to make decisions, and staff consistently value their opinions and ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• organise group activities more effectively, to support children to participate and engage in their learning
• monitor and evaluate staff's teaching to plan more precisely for their professional development and address minor weaknesses in practice.