Hedgehogs Chatham Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children and families with warmth at this 'home-away-from-home', inclusive environment, where children are at the heart of what they do. Staff are affectionate and attentive to the children, offering encouragement and praise regularly, which nurtures children's self-esteem and confidence. Staff prioritise children's safety and well-being effectively. They help children to choose sun hats from the 'summer shop', discussing with them how to keep themselves safe in the sun. This helps children develop a positive understanding of how to keep themselves healthy.

Children benefit from a wide range of inspiring activities designed to meet their interests and needs. Older children sustain high levels of engagement when exploring how to 'catch' gems in water. Staff encourage them to remember previous learning following their interest in volcanoes. Younger children delight in playing peekaboo with staff, giggling as they wait to open their eyes. This helps develop their attention and listening skills effectively. Staff foster a positive learning environment, encouraging children to water the fruits and vegetables they have planted, which enhances their sense of responsibility. Children are well behaved, promptly assisting in tidying up and gathering toys when asked. Those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective support. All children flourish.

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

• Leaders, managers and staff have all worked hard since the last inspection to make significant improvements and changes. All staff show genuine interest in children, and listen attentively to them. They are patient and calm in their interactions and engage with them well, helping children to extend enjoyment in their play. For example, young children beam with smiles when they successfully make the paint dispensers work. This supports their emotional well-being positively.
• Children gain significant benefit from exploring the exciting environment and resources that have been created by staff to inspire them and capture their imagination. For example, staff design role-play spaces for children to help them develop their interest in, and understanding of, other countries. These successfully encourage children to discuss the different places they have visited in the world. During discussion, children explore the concepts of hot and cold climates and the countries their friends come from. Staff also motivate children to share the diverse meals they eat at home, enhancing their understanding of the wider world.
• Staff are skilled at promoting children's language and communication skills. Children excitedly join in activities such as 'silly soup', where they have great fun as they practise rhyming words. Staff have created a lending library and children enjoy choosing books to read at home. This helps foster a passion for reading.
• Children with SEND are strongly supported. Staff use funding effectively to purchase resources to support them and to take on additional training themselves. They have plans to develop a sensory space for children to relax and retreat to. Children who were nonverbal when they started now use words and actions to communicate. All children make good progress.
• Older children benefit from clear, embedded routines and respond to these well. For example, they scrape their lunch plates and help staff clean tables. However, there are some inconsistencies in the arrangements to promote all children's independence. On occasion, younger children do not receive as much encouragement to try to complete tasks for themselves. At these times, they do not always benefit from opportunities to further develop their independence and self-reliance skills.
• Staff have strong relationships with external agencies, the local community and nearby schools. They share a range of information to ensure children and families have a positive start. They help parents by accompanying them on visits to support smooth transitions. However, sometimes, information gathered from parents, such as the languages children speak and hear at home, is not checked well enough to enable key persons to precisely understand the specific needs of new children to help them settle when they first start.
• Leaders and managers have made significant progress in developing provision since their last inspection. They access high-quality training and support to ensure this continues. They are proactive, passionate and committed to ensuring staff are well qualified and trained to provide children and families with good-quality care and education.
• Communication with parents is effective. Parents appreciate the flexible and individual arrangements to support them in settling their children. Parents value the helpful support they receive from staff and their friendly and approachable nature. Parents receive regular updates about their children's progress and ideas to support them at home and, as such, children make good progress in their speech, behaviour and social skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise when children can attempt to do things more for themselves, to support their developing independence skills further
• strengthen processes for using information from parents, including other languages spoken at home, to aid settling-in processes.