Harmony House Dagenham

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are visibly settled and happy at this nursery. Staff are friendly, approachable and form good bonds with children. Children are confident to seek help from staff and go to them for comfort and reassurance when they need it. Staff encourage children to express their thoughts and needs and are responsive to these to maintain their well-being. Children's care and emotional needs are supported well. Staff communicate their expectations of behaviour to children well. Staff give clear, simple instructions for children to follow to help them to know how to behave. Staff are also good role models for children to learn from. Children are calm and listen and behave well.

Leaders know what they want children to learn at the nursery and why. They share their vision with staff, who help children well to learn the key skills they need for their future learning, overall. Leaders and staff have high expectations of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), and skilfully adapt how they interact with children to meet their individual learning needs. Staff successfully plan around children's interests to engage and interest them in learning. Children are excited to join in, such as during planting activities, and show curiosity and an interest in nature and the world around them.

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

• Children with SEND are supported well. Staff skilfully adapt their interactions and teaching to meet their needs. For instance, staff use visual prompts to help aid children's understanding of the daily routine and to assist them with their communication. Staff are inclusive in their practice.
• Staff interact with children well, overall, to engage children and extend their learning. They skilfully support children's communication skills through a variety of different ways. For instance, staff sing rhymes, read books with children, and model how to use new words to build on children's language development. Children learn to use new words in context and become articulate communicators.
• Children develop their mathematical skills well. Staff successfully teach children how to use mathematical language in discussions. For example, they demonstrate how to describe pieces of fruit as a whole, a half, or a quarter. Staff extend children's mathematical knowledge well and support children to develop their mathematical language.
• Staff teach children about good hygiene practices and help them to learn some self-care skills. They teach children to wash their hands before mealtimes and help them to understand why this is important. However, at times, some staff do not always encourage children to do things for themselves during day-to-day routines, to help build on their independence skills even further.
• Staff support children's good health and help them to learn about how to keep their body healthy. Children eat nutritious meals and are physically active during the day. For instance, children join in with dancing activities and learn to move their bodies in different ways, developing the large muscles in their body well.
• Staff know their key children well. They know what children can do and what they need to learn next. Staff establish good partnerships with other professionals who work with children and act on the information shared to support children in their development and meet their individual needs. However, at times, staff do not always plan activities with a precise learning intent to help them to refine their teaching and the support they offer children to develop their skills further.
• Staff communicate well with parents. They inform parents about what their children are learning to do. For example, they share photos with parents of their children's achievements. Staff offer advice to parents about how they can support their children at home to help to provide consistency in their learning.
• Leaders monitor staff's practice well, such as through regular supervisions and observations of staff's practice. They recognise areas for improvement and take relevant action to address these to help to maintain the quality of the provision. Leaders provide staff with good opportunities for professional development. For instance, staff attend training to develop their expertise in child development and refresh their knowledge of how to keep children safe.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have a clearer learning intent when planning activities, to help them to focus on the precise skills they want children to gain to further strengthen the quality of children's education and what they achieve
• extend the opportunities that children have to do things for themselves, to enhance their levels of independence in day-to-day routines.