Hillside House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

As babies and children arrive, they receive cuddles and a warm and friendly greeting from staff, with who they have strong attachments. This helps them to settle quickly, develop confidence and feel happy, safe and emotionally secure. Children enjoy their time in the nursery and demonstrate excellent behaviour. Staff model and encourage important social skills, such as being polite, kind and respectful. Children spontaneously share with their friends and play collaboratively. For example, they build together with plastic crates or engage in pretend play in the exciting construction area.

All children make good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those in receipt of additional funding. Overall, staff plan a very broad and effective curriculum, particularly in respect of children over two years. Many of the children going to school in September are exceeding expectations and already equipped with impressive skills, language and knowledge. Staff encourage children to do many things for themselves, which helps them to develop high levels of independence. Staff complement children's experiences through visitors and outings that help children to develop a strong sense of community and learn about people who help them.

Staff support young children to practise and develop their large-physical skills. For example, babies use sturdy furniture to pull themselves up to a standing position. Toddlers delight in moving through the tunnel and climbing on and off soft blocks.

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

• Staff continually observe and assess children's development. They promptly identify and support children whose progress is not as expected. Staff work in excellent partnership with other professionals to support children with SEND.
• Children aged from approximately over two years take part in an expansive range of challenging and unique activities and hands-on learning. For example, while learning about farm animals, children practise their small-physical skills while squeezing the plump rubber gloves. Staff fill these with milk to replicate the udders of the cow that children have made using craft materials.
• Older children show great focus during activities based around science, technology, engineering and mathematics. For example, they construct with dried lengths of spaghetti and marshmallows. As they do so, staff ignite children's creative and critical-thinking skills through skilful questioning.
• Babies and children aged under two years develop fundamental skills and are happy and settled. However, staff's planning of activities and the environment does not consistently support their stage of learning and interests to keep them highly engaged.
• Staff share children's achievements with parents verbally and electronically. They encourage parents to contribute to children's assessments, for example, by asking them to share 'wow' moments, videos and photos.
• Staff praise children's achievements, such as learning to feed themselves, zipping up their coats and sharing with their friends. They use ample positive strategies to support young children to reach significant milestones, such as learning to use the toilet.
• Staff encourage parents to share in their children's learning, for instance, through events, such as 'free fun' mornings and the Christmas Nativity. However, staff do not fully involve parents in supporting the youngest children's learning at home.
• Staff help to build on children's language skills. They sing spontaneously and as children play, read stories and provide a commentary as children play. Staff introduce new words as babies and toddlers feel different textures.
• Babies and toddlers place wooden curtain rings on a mug tree and young children use wooden hammers to break large cubes of ice. Older children carefully press the thin and delicate lengths of dried spaghetti into the marshmallows, so as not to break it. These activities help to develop children's hand-eye coordination and small-muscle strength.
• Staff use pre-reading readiness assessments to gauge whether older children are at the stage of learning to read, and discuss this with parents. Some children have very impressive early literacy skills, such as spelling and reading simple words.
• Staff help children to develop an early awareness of living a healthy lifestyle in many ways. For example, children brush their teeth at nursery, visit the local dental practice and readily tuck into hearty nutritious, freshly prepared meals.
• Staff's qualifications have a positive impact on many aspects of their practice. However, the systems for monitoring practice and for the training and coaching for staff, especially for those staff who are unqualified, are not always precisely focused to raise teaching and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan and adapt the environment and activities more effectively to support babies' and young children's individual learning needs and interests to the highest level
• extend the involvement of parents in supporting the youngest children's learning and interests at home
• strengthen the arrangements for reflecting on practice and monitoring, coaching and training staff, to extend the quality of practice across the nursery.