Happy Days Nursery Summercourt

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this nurturing nursery. Staff focus on building positive relationships with children. They offer a warm welcome as parents and children arrive. They are attentive to children and model positive social skills by inviting them to join in activities. Children are confident to move around the setting and select resources and activities. They join staff and other children, who make them feel welcome and valued. For example, children sit chatting and creating 'monsters' using the dough. They discuss their imaginative ideas, such as what their dough monsters are doing. Staff support children to learn about the consequences of their actions on others. They encourage babies to sign 'stop' and use the words when another baby is doing something they do not like. Older children are reminded to 'use their words'. Children use these prompts to negotiate with their friends and resolve differences. Children play harmoniously together and show high levels of self-regulation and care for others.

Leaders and staff know what they want children to learn. They put in place a progressive curriculum that prepares children well for their next stages in learning, including starting school. For instance, they work closely with parents and the schools children move to during this transition. They build children's skills of independence, exploration, communication, attention and sharing with others.

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

• Staff observe children and monitor their progress. Experienced leaders support staff to ensure they put in place relevant next steps for children. They quickly identify gaps in children's learning and development and put interventions in place for children with special educational needs and or disabilities (SEND). They use funding effectively for disadvantaged children to support their progress. However, on some occasions they do not work with parents and outside agencies quickly enough to put high-quality interventions in place. Although children make progress, for a small number of children this is not as swift as it could be.
• Children build a love of words and reading. Staff model language, introduce new words and repeat words back to children to show how they should be pronounced. Babies and children with speech and language delays learn to communicate through signs while building their spoken words. Older children are encouraged to build their skills, such as explaining their thinking and speaking in more complex sentences. Children widen their vocabulary through songs and reading. They enjoy taking books from the nursery library and sharing these at home. Children choose to read for pleasure, which prepares them well for starting school and lifelong learning.
• Partnerships with parents are mostly strong. Parents feel that leaders and staff value both the families and children who attend. Staff regularly update parents about children's progress and provide ideas about how they can support their children's learning at home. However, at times, not all parents are as aware of the extent of gaps in children's learning and development as they could be. These children do not make progress as quickly as they could.
• Staff support children's healthy habits. Children eat a variety of nutritious foods at snack times and lunchtimes. Children enjoying growing and harvesting their own vegetables. They work with the staff to make meals and they take pride in tasting what they have made. Mealtimes are sociable events. Staff and children sit together chatting. They talk about foods that they have on their plates and why they are healthy. Children learn how to brush their teeth and the importance of oral hygiene.
• Staff support children's physical skills and independence. They plan a progressive curriculum that builds both large- and small-muscle skills through the different ages. For instance, babies learn how to use cutlery to feed themselves. Toddlers serve their own food and pour their own water from jugs. Pre-school children organise lunch tables for themselves and scrape off their own plates.
• Leaders have worked hard to implement effective staff monitoring and supervision arrangements. They regularly observe staff and identify areas for professional development. However, the quality of interactions is not consistent. For instance, staff mostly provide challenge and adapt activities to meet children's individual needs, but on occasions they do not. At these times, children are not as focused and engaged in purposeful learning as they normally are.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the support for children with SEND, ensuring they receive swift and targeted help to reach their potential
• train staff to adapt and provide challenge and support consistently for each child's individual needs so they are engaged in purposeful learning.