High House Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders have worked hard and sought support from other professionals to raise standards since the last inspection. Children and babies show that they feel safe and secure in the nursery. They happily separate from parents and know the routine when they arrive. Children of all ages demonstrate that they are confident communicators and show very good independence. Staff sit with them and engage them in conversations. Children enjoy listening to stories. The introduction of a book of the week provides repetition of language and helps children to recall stories and repeat familiar phrases. Children enjoy purposeful social interaction and build close relationships with staff, and their behaviour is good.

Children are keen to explore the range of toys and interesting activities offered. Babies have fun, developing their curiosity as they push their fingers and hands though shaving foam. Pre-school children persevere with chosen tasks and thoroughly enjoy number recognition activities. They are introduced to the concept of counting cars and once they are confident, staff add number symbols, encouraging children to use their knowledge to match these to numbered car parking spaces.

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

• Leaders and managers have made significant improvements to promote teaching and learning. They have ensured that staff supervision is undertaken in a timely manner. Helpful procedures are in place and implemented to ensure that children with specific dietary requirements remain protected from foods that may harm them. Behaviour management strategies help children to recognise their feelings and ask for help. The outside play areas have been reorganised, and plans remain in place for the continued improvement of these areas.
• Children show they are developing a good understanding of others and the world around them. They are kind and caring, making room at story time and sharing toys. When a child tumbles, other children are quick to check they are okay. When staff praise their helpfulness, they also demonstrate excellent manners as they politely say, 'You're welcome.' Children who are new to the pre-school receive plenty of support to help them settle.
• Staff have regular meetings with the manager who, in turn, meets with the leadership team. These meetings enable everyone to review practice and the progress children make. In addition, staff can discuss any issues that may impact on their role and agree plans for extending their professional development. The leadership team monitors practice in action. However, the feedback staff receive is currently aimed at the quality of activities and capturing children's interests. It lacks focus or coaching on embedding a purposeful curriculum and improving their teaching to a consistently high level.
• Overall, leaders have established a broad curriculum. Staff know the children well. Key persons plan for what they want children to learn next. However, this is based more on what staff notice interests the children rather than what children may need to learn next in their sequence of development to ensure that they make the best possible progress.
• Children develop physical skills as they climb and slide or balance on colourful beams. Riskier play enables them to think about personal safety. Children are gaining skills and learning about the wider world. However, the risk assessment procedures staff rely on, to ensure that all areas are checked before use, are not currently as robust as possible.
• Parents comment that they receive information from staff about what their children are learning. They appreciate the different experiences their children enjoy. Parents like the 'parent hub', where they can obtain further information relating to various early years topics and borrow story books to share with their children at home.
• There is good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff identify when children need extra support. They work with parents and make ongoing observations to provide pertinent information for other professionals, as necessary, to ensure early intervention and help close gaps in learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the monitoring of staff practice further to ensure that they receive focused feedback and coaching to embed a purposeful curriculum of what they need children to learn and to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently high level
• support staff to plan meaningful, sequential learning opportunities and ensure that children have plenty of time to develop and practise their new knowledge and skills to support future learning
• strengthen current procedures for assessing risk to ensure that all staff have a clear understanding of their responsibility.