Happy Niños Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and separate from their parents confidently at this nursery. They form positive bonds with their peers and staff, and love to talk. Leaders work with staff to develop a curriculum that ensures that children's developmental needs are met while being led by their individual interests. This means that all children make progress in learning, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Staff provide extensive settling-in sessions to support children and their families to feel comfortable at the nursery. Staff support children to talk about how they are feeling. They offer comfort when needed, offering children cuddles or distracting them if they are feeling unsettled. Staff ensure that children's and their families' diversity is celebrated at the nursery and that they feel a sense of belonging there. They introduce words from children's home languages throughout the day. For example, they say 'choca cinco' when they ask children to give them a 'high five'.

A range of outings are provided throughout the week so children's learning is further enhanced beyond the nursery environment. Before taking children out on walks in the local area, staff involve them in risk assessment, for example asking them how they can keep themselves safe crossing the roads or while they are at the park. Children confidently explain the rules that staff teach them. They respond positively to staff when they call them to join in with different activities. For example, children giggle as they join in with parachute games and bouncing balls around, collecting them if they bounce away.

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

• Children love to sing and dance at this nursery. Older children take every opportunity to dance. For example, even when there is not any music, they bob along as they move around the room. Babies hold instruments and move them along with the songs in group time. Staff offer a choice of two song cards for older babies to choose from. They name the songs as they show babies their choices.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They talk to children throughout the day, commenting on what they are doing and modelling a range of vocabulary throughout their everyday activities. For example, while children pretend to feed toy dinosaurs, staff use different words to describe their size. They talk about what colours they can see on the dinosaurs as they name them.
• Overall, children's behaviour is good at the nursery. They play well with each other, learning to share and take turns. However, at times, staff do not make the expectations of routines, such as tidy-up times, clear to children. As a result, older children do not help to tidy up when asked, but continue to play. This does not support them to develop responsibility for taking care of their environment and helping others.
• Children learn about keeping themselves healthy, including the importance of oral health. Staff ensure that children access outdoor spaces every day. For example, they take sports activities to the park. These are used to support children to explore running, throwing, catching and moving their bodies in different ways. However, at times, staff spend too long getting children and the equipment ready to go out on outings. As a result, children can become restless and unsettled. This does not effectively support their engagement in learning.
• Interactions between staff and the youngest children are fun and caring, and staff engage their attention and focus well. Staff use their voices in different ways to keep children's interest. Staff support older children's imaginations by their use of questions. For example, while children are mixing potions in the water tray, staff ask what effect their potions will have. Children excitedly tell adults that their potions will create 'a zoo full of 18 animals' and name the animals they will create.
• Parents and carers speak very positively about the nursery. They praise the home-from-home approach and feel that the staff get to know their children very well. Parents feel that they are well informed about their child's day and their progress over time. The nursery uses a digital app to share observations and assessments. Staff use this to support parents to understand what their children's time at nursery is like.
• Staff say that they are happy working at the nursery. They feel that there are opportunities for them to progress their development and that leaders show their appreciation by celebrating the 'star of the month' from the staff team. Staff receive regular training and feedback from leaders to ensure that their knowledge of nursery policies and procedures is well embedded.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support children to understand what is expected from them at key routine times, such as tidy-up time
• review the arrangements for transitions between activities so that children are fully engaged and waiting times are not excessive.