Happy Days Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Happy Days nursery is an exciting place for children to start their education. The nursery provides a colourful, stimulating and motivating learning environment for children to grow and develop. Children settle quickly and are eager to join in with play as soon as they arrive at the nursery. Staff recognise and praise children's efforts and achievements. This helps them to grow in confidence and feel emotionally secure.

Staff are good role models. A consistent approach to managing behaviour ensures children feel safe, secure and listened to. Children behave well and have good attitudes to learning. For example, they listen to instructions attentively when they line up to go outside. Staff help children to understand about taking turns and to share toys. Children learn to be independent from an early age.

Staff have high expectations for children and provide activities that build on what they can already do. Children use their hand-to-eye coordination and small muscles well. This is evident as children use hammers to free sea creatures from coloured blocks of ice. Children enjoy dressing up in the outside area and clearly enjoy imaginative play. The well-planned range of highly enjoyable activities and experiences sustains children's interests and keeps them engaged.

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

• The strong leadership team are experienced, knowledgeable and understand how children learn and develop. They are passionate about their setting and have a clear vision for the future of the nursery. Leaders encourage staff to use children's interests as a guide when planning experiences that are challenging and stimulating. Staff comment that leaders are always accessible and are on hand to offer well-being assistance and professional advice as needed.
• Parents are highly valued as partners and speak very positively about the provision. They warmly describe the friendliness of the staff team and how happy their children are to attend the nursery. Staff provide parents with regular updates about their child's progress. For example, they hold parents' meetings, provide daily discussions and use emails to share information. This approach also affords parents opportunities to contribute to what their child is learning at home.
• Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop early literacy skills. Older children learn to write their names and recognise the sounds letters make. Staff encourage children from a young age to develop a real interest in books. Toddlers and babies select board books independently, turn the pages and point at the pictures. The library van visits regularly, contributing to children's early love of reading.
• Many activities help children to develop early writing skills, strengthening the small muscles in their hands. For example, toddlers become increasing confident and deeply engaged as they make marks on paper. Older children construct buildings with blocks and make cakes with play dough. However, staff do not take advantage of opportunities to further extend children's learning in mathematics, such as extending their understanding of measure as they pour water into different containers.
• Babies smile with delight and clap along to the welcome song. Warm, responsive relationships are very evident as babies snuggle in for cuddles. They respond well to their routine. Babies select a prop from a bag to identify the song they would like to sing. Staff use repetition of key words to support the early language development of younger children and those with communication difficulties. They repeat back and pronounce words correctly as babies and toddlers show emerging language skills.
• Leaders and managers have a strong understanding of the curriculum intent and regularly reflect upon the quality of the provision. They make changes to the environment to suit children's learning needs. For instance, the outside area has been enhanced with the addition of the garden room. The leadership team gather the views of parents, staff and children about the setting. They use this information effectively to drive improvements and enrich outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend children's good mathematical skills, supporting staff to recognise and build on the opportunities that occur in children's everyday play and activity.