Holyrood Day Nursery Shaw

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide children with a warm welcome as they enter this vibrant setting. Children show high levels of confidence and are keen to greet visitors. Staff are good role models. They ensure that children understand what is expected of them and teach them right from wrong. Children are kind and caring. They develop positive friendships and behave well. Staff support children to develop a can-do attitude towards their learning. Children relish taking on challenges. For example, they confidently learn how to use climbing apparatus while completing an assault course. Babies giggle with delight while crawling. They gain good core body strength in readiness for walking.

Staff provide children with an ambitious curriculum that helps them to make good progress. They have the same ambitions for all children and are advocates for removing any barriers to learning. Staff provide a range of first-hand experiences that help children to learn. For example, children are enthralled while learning how to cook meals with the chef. They find out where foods come from and visit the supermarket to buy ingredients. Staff support children's independence skills well. They encourage them to put on their own shoes and coats. Children tidy toys away and help to clear plates away after eating. They develop the necessary skills in readiness for their eventual move on to school.

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

• The manager is aspirational for children's achievements and wants all children to succeed. She uses self-evaluation to help improve outcomes for children. For example, she has redeveloped play environments for babies to better support their large-muscle skills. Babies show excellent coordination as they use low-level steps.
• Leaders provide children with a broad curriculum. They use what they know about children to provide interesting learning experiences. For example, toddlers enjoy making flowers from paper. Babies are captivated while looking at their reflections in mirrors. Pre-school children show excellent small-muscle skills while using pegs to pick up beads. Children make good progress, given their starting points.
• Overall, children know routines well. They enjoy helping to get resources ready for activities and relish adult-led learning. However, the organisation of some routines for older children hinders them in engaging fully in their learning. For example, some children sit for too long after lunch without engaging in purposeful activities. This means that some children lose interest in their learning.
• Leaders support staff to gain higher qualifications in childcare. Staff share what they have learned from training and measure the impact that this has on children. For example, communication and language training has enabled staff to better support children's speaking skills through stories. Children delight in these moments and are confident communicators.
• Leaders prioritise staff well-being. Staff morale is high, and a strong sense of teamwork pervades the setting. Leaders carry out appraisal meetings and supervision sessions. However, the arrangements for staff supervisions do not have a sharp enough focus on improving staff practice further.
• Staff support children's love for the outdoors effectively. They have carefully planned the play environment to ignite curiosity and adventure. For example, children enjoy searching for bugs and watching wildlife. They play ring games and talk about caring for the environment. Children gain a good understanding of the importance of outdoor play, such as to keep physically active and to get fresh air.
• The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and children who speak English as an additional language is excellent. The highly experienced SEND coordinator leaves no stone unturned in her pursuit to help children thrive. She monitors intervention plans with precision and ensures that no child is left behind. Gaps in learning quickly close and children flourish.
• Care practices are good. Staff give high priority in supporting children's personal, social and emotional development. They help children to understand how to manage their emotions. Children talk about their feelings. They know what is expected of them and show positive behaviour. They are inquisitive learners who demonstrate respect and tolerance towards others.
• Staff foster children's love of reading. They introduce a range of books and take them to visit the library. Children share books with each other and talk about the stories that they read with their families. They enact roles of story characters and anticipate what might happen next. Children gain an early awareness that print carries meaning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the organisation of routines, so that children stay fully engaged in their learning
• refine systems for staff supervision, to help raise staff practice further.