Hey Days Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this exciting and interesting nursery. They enter the nursery, eager and happy to be there. Staff are kind, caring and nurturing. They organise the nursery effectively to spark children's curiosity. Children are highly motivated and eager to join in, share and cooperate with their friends. Children have consistently positive attitudes to their play and are highly motivated to learn. Children make choices about their play and follow their own interests and ideas. They delight in constructing obstacle courses and enjoy climbing and balancing. This supports their problem-solving and physical skills well.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour, which is exemplary. They have high levels of respect for each other. They take turns and share, without being prompted. Children practise their early literacy skills as they identify their names on their name-cards and listen to 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Older children draw pictures of picnic baskets, including items from the story. Staff support children's sensory exploration well. Babies enjoy exploring different materials, including flour, foam and ice. Toddlers explore water and mud in the nursery garden. They go on bug hunts and squeal with delight as they handle worms. Older children enjoy learning about looking after the fruit and vegetables that they grow in the nursery garden. This helps children to learn about nature and the world around them.

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

• Children's behaviour is excellent as they play alongside each other. The atmosphere is calm and peaceful as children are busy and highly motivated to learn. Children are persistent and try hard to succeed. For example, they climb trees, strategically placing one foot in front of the other, until they reach the top. Children remember the rules of the nursery and remind their peers of these. For instance, children remind each other to use 'walking feet' when inside.
• Staff plan many opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. Older children practise their balancing skills on wooden planks, as they design obstacle courses in the forest area. Toddlers learn how to climb on the nursery equipment and move themselves on tricycles. Babies pull themselves to stand on nursery furniture and climb up steps onto a small slide. This helps to develop children's large-muscle skills, balance and coordination.
• Staff work very well with parents. Parents feel that they are actively involved in their children's learning. Staff give parents suggestions of how to support children's learning at home. Parents talk highly of the information they receive about their children's development and progress. They feel that their children are making good progress, particularly with language and social interaction. Parents comment that staff are 'brilliant at communicating'.
• Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff sing songs and rhymes throughout the day, during play and at some mealtimes. Children freely explore books and independently select books to share with their friends and staff. Staff model correct language during play and introduce new vocabulary. For instance, as children play, staff introduce words such as 'starfish', 'jellyfish' and 'lighthouse'. This helps to develop children's communication skills.
• The manager has a clear vision for the curriculum. Children access a wide range of activities and experiences, which helps them to develop skills. Staff interactions with children are good. However, staff do not always link what they want individual children to learn to the activities that they provide.
• The manager holds regular supervision sessions with staff. Staff's well-being is paramount. They speak highly of the support received from the manager and the nominated individual. Staff have access to some in-house training and they attend all mandatory courses. However, professional development is not yet sharply focused to ensure that their teaching practice is highly effective.
• Children's mathematical and literacy skills are well supported. Staff help children to learn how to weigh and measure as they add boxes to a large scale. Children access a vast choice of mark-making resources in the outdoor area. For instance, they make marks with sticks in the mud and with large chalks. Additionally, staff help children to learn the letters in their names and to practise letter formation. This helps to support children to develop the skills for their next stage of learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the staff's knowledge of what they expect children to learn overall so that they are clear on what skills and knowledge they want children to gain
• increase the focus on staff's professional development to help to raise the quality of teaching to an even higher level.