Hickory House Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy as they arrive at the nursery and are greeted by the friendly management team. Key persons settle children into their rooms with warm and caring interactions. As a result, children's emotional needs are supported well. Children quickly become engaged in their chosen learning. Staff have built positive relationships with children and their families. These relationships form firm foundations for children's successful learning and development.

Managers and staff have worked together to design an exciting environment that offers rich learning experiences for all children. Children independently explore and have a wide variety of activities to choose from. Their imaginations flourish as they become deeply engaged in play. Children particularly enjoy the physical play area, where they strengthen their muscles and learn how to coordinate their body movements. Children behave well. Staff teach children effectively about the importance of listening and following instructions to stay safe.

Children happily work together to build a mountain in the sand pit. Staff show children how to build a secure foundation. This helps to develop children's problem-solving skills. Staff offer children mathematical language when deciding how big they are going to make it. Children respond well to staff's ideas and stretch their arms up high as they demonstrate the size they want to achieve. Staff are skilful at developing their teaching to meet the children's needs and encourage children to keep going, which boosts their self-esteem and confidence.

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

• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They show commitment as they act as role models and gently remind children to use their 'kind hands'. Children respond well to the positive behaviour management strategies that staff use. They are calmed when relaxing classical music is played at nap times. Staff recognise when children behave well and offer meaningful individual praise.
• Staff are attentive to children's care needs. They promote children's health through teaching handwashing and offering healthy meal options. Staff interact warmly with children during care routines, such as nappy changes. Older children go to the toilet and manage their own care needs independently.
• Management and staff gather information from parents about their children's interests and abilities when they first start to attend the nursery. They use children's interests as a starting point when planning experiences to help them develop and settle into the nursery. However, occasionally, staff do not successfully use children's interests to engage them in learning experiences. As a result, children occasionally lose interest and wander off. Children's learning is not successfully extended at these times.
• Overall, staff's interactions with children are good. Younger children thoroughly enjoy games of peekaboo. However, at times, staff ask older children questions and present lots of information in quick succession. Children are not provided with enough time to think and respond. This limits children's opportunities to think and share their thoughts and ideas.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with parents and other professionals to enable children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to make good progress in their learning. The SENCo uses her experience and knowledge to act quickly and puts appropriate support in place. As a result, children with SEND make good progress.
• The management team recognises the importance of staff's well-being and their continuous professional development. Opportunities are provided for staff to develop their knowledge and skills. Staff benefit from an effective programme of supervision to manage their performance and support their professional development.
• The management team has designed a curriculum through which children build on what they know and can do. Overall, staff know what children need to learn next. However, they are not specific enough when deciding what to teach children next to help them make even better progress.
• Children play and learn in a friendly and inclusive environment. Staff value the diversity of cultures and languages in the setting and reflect these in the activities and events that they provide. Staff use British Sign Language during conversations and play, to help children to communicate.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• allow children time to think and respond during group conversations, to develop their thinking and speaking skills
• strengthen the curriculum during planned activities, taking account of children's individual interests so that they gain the most they can from the activities
• support staff to refine how to teach children's next steps to ensure that they are precise and clearly meet what children need to learn next.