Helping Hands Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their day at nursery. They are greeted by caring staff, who know them well and take time to speak to their parents to find out how the children have been at home. Children quickly gravitate to their small friendship groups. They engage in a range of freely chosen, as well as some adult-led, focused activities. Children are keen learners and listen attentively to staff when they read stories and participate in conversations. Children are caring and respectful of each other. They understand the nursery rules and confidently talk about how they need to clear toys away when they have finished playing with them.

Staff embrace younger children's interests and engage in fun activities based on these. For example, they dress up in an adult shark costume to join the children singing and acting out their favourite song about a family of sharks. Older children are helped to overcome any concern about visiting a dentist, as staff introduce and enable them to explore tools and equipment that might be associated with a trip to the dentist. They carefully lie back in a recliner chair while their friends look at their teeth. Staff support this learning well, ensuring that they use clear, positive language when modelling this experience.

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

• The provider, manager and staff have worked hard since the last inspection to address the identified weaknesses. Staff have undertaken a wide range of training to help them to develop their knowledge and gain a greater understanding of their roles. The provider has engaged well with the local authority and intends to continue to do so moving forward. The staff team continue to develop their expertise and work well together as a team.
• Parents speak highly of the manager and staff. They comment that their children love attending the nursery and are making good progress in their learning. Parents feel involved in their child's day as staff share a good amount of information with them. Staff encourage parents to continue with their children's learning at home. For example, they share the importance of reading to children, which has encouraged parents to read more bedtime stories and share books with their children at home.
• Staff use effective tools to help them to identify any gaps in children's learning. Where identified, they work with parents to put in place effective strategies and plans to help to close the gaps. Staff focus their attention on extending children's speech and communication. They and parents have seen positive successes with some children who had limited speech, now engaging fully in discussions.
• Since the last inspection, the provider has developed the way in which she uses the local environment to enhance children's learning experiences. The staff now regularly take children to local parks, the library and to shops. They use the newly purchased 'kiddi-buggy' to transport younger children on these trips.
• Children are provided with opportunities to play in the newly enclosed outdoor space. Here, they explore water as they make decisions where to place lengths of guttering to pour the water down. They decide how to construct walkways from planks of wood and tyres to enable them to explore new ways of moving and being physical. However, staff do not make good enough use of the outdoor environment to build on the learning experiences for children who prefer to play outside.
• Staff are developing their understanding of different approaches to children's learning. For example, they are introducing more resources and materials that enable children to be freely creative with no determined end product. As a result, children use their imagination to create and construct. Staff use effective questioning to enhance the children's thinking.
• Babies eagerly participate in a food tasting activity, where they are able to touch, smell and taste a range of foods. They show their like or dislike for each food with appropriate facial expressions. Older children learn how to take care of incubating eggs and wait eagerly for them to hatch into chicks.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• guide staff to make better use of the outdoor environment to support the continuing good progress of children who prefer to play and learn outside.