Hickory Dickorys Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and are greeted by a familiar, friendly staff team that knows them and their families well. Staff label each child's coat peg with their photograph and name, including their home language. This helps children recognise their name and feel a sense of identity and belonging. Children settle quickly and are eager to play and learn. They benefit from a broad and balanced curriculum carefully planned by staff that supports their progress in all areas of learning.

Babies explore autumn-themed activities. They develop core strength as they sit in trays and reach for leaves and conkers. Staff name the objects and point to pictures, introducing words such as 'harvester'. This helps babies develop early communication skills and curiosity. Toddlers focus and concentrate during small-group activities led by staff. They recall familiar stories, name foods and count props. Staff encourage turn taking, listening and having respect for others, helping toddlers develop positive behaviour and social skills. Pre-school children learn about community helpers through imaginative role play. They dress as doctors and nurses and show care and empathy while tending to dolls. Staff explain how tools such as stethoscopes and blood pressure monitors work. Children explore, problem-solve and learn about the world around them. They share resources, cooperate and take responsibility, which strengthens their personal development and prepares them for school.

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

• Leaders and staff work together to create a varied curriculum that helps children make progress and be prepared for the next stage in their learning. They provide a wide range of activities and resources to support this. However, they do not always have clear enough learning intentions for individual children or the group activities on offer. For example, at times, intentions are broad, such as 'communication and language', rather than identifying what skills they want children to develop. This makes it harder for staff to focus their interactions to help children make the best possible progress.
• Leaders enrich opportunities in the curriculum, recognising gaps and addressing these. For example, acknowledging their smaller outdoor space, they make provision for staff to take children on outings into the community and have used donations to install a climbing wall to promote children's physical development, strength and resilience.
• The nursery has a range of inclusive strategies to support children's communication and language skills. For example, they have visual aids such as 'now and next' boards, sign language and key words in children's home languages displayed in the rooms. Although these strategies are in place, staff do not always use them consistently, and they are not fully embedded in everyday practice to fully promote children's confidence and progress in communication and language development.
• Children enjoy a wide range of healthy and balanced meals and snacks. A full-time chef prepares the food and checks menus against the latest nutrition guidance. Staff promote allergen awareness, serving meals for children with allergies on coloured plates. They ask children for their views and encourage them to vote on new recipes. Mealtimes are purposeful learning experiences. Children collect their plates, serve themselves and pour their own drinks. They grow in independence and learn to care for themselves.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the nursery. Staff build these from the very start of children's attendance. They invite parents to flexible settling-in sessions and gather information that helps them get to know each child. This means staff can plan for children's needs from the outset. Parents' feedback is consistently positive. They describe staff as 'attentive' and 'nurturing' and say they feel listened to and included in their child's learning journey.
• Leaders work closely with staff and regularly monitor practice, being present in all areas of nursery life. Staff feel supported both personally and professionally, which keeps morale high and helps them provide high-quality care and teaching. Leaders are introducing personal development plans for all staff. These recognise each person's strengths and areas for development. Leaders aim to use these plans to guide further training and support. This will help staff continue to grow in their roles and further improve the quality of teaching and learning for all children across the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to set more precise learning intentions to focus their interactions more effectively and help children make the best possible progress
• embed the use of inclusive strategies to fully promote children's confidence and progress in communication and language.