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What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and quickly develop strong bonds with caring and considerate staff. Babies hold out their arms and older children are enthusiastically greeted by waiting staff. Children show high levels of interest in the wide range of exciting and colourful learning opportunities on offer. Very young children have fun taking part in activities that encourage them to use their senses. They show good levels of curiosity as they keenly explore textures, such as crushed breakfast cereal. Older children smell and touch slices of fresh lemon and orange floating in water along with herbs, including mint and basil.

Children have fun learning about the local environment during regular walks and enthusiastically wave, saying 'hi', much to the delight of passers-by. Older children are able to recognise numerals on doors and number plates. Children are proud to see their peers' jubilee artwork displayed in a local shop window. They are very keen to let staff know when they find a picture of the Queen. Toddlers use their imagination as they spend prolonged periods of time playing, moulding dough into pretend cakes. Staff in the baby room are very calm and sensitive. They successfully encourage babies to communicate their wants and needs using simple sign language, gestures and, at times, single words.

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

• Robust recruitment procedures help the provider to ensure all adults working with children are suitable to do so. The provider shows a strong drive and determination to continually develop the service. This is informed through a variety of means. For example, she seeks the opinion staff and parents through discussion and regular surveys.
• Children who are in receipt of additional funding are supported well. Staff consult parents about the purchase of resources to support their children's learning needs, such as a new climbing frame to encourage children's physical development. All children are supported well to make good progress from their starting points in preparation for starting school.
• The special educational needs coordinator works very closely with parents and a wide range of other professionals. This helps to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported to make the best possible progress.
• Risk assessments are carried out in all areas that are accessible to children. Swift action is taken by the provider to ensure all hazards are minimised or removed. In addition, a review of risk assessments is carried out if an accident occurs.
• The provider and her staff have risen to the challenge that the COVID-19 pandemic has placed on children and families in the local and wider community. They have implemented new initiatives, such as a monthly Saturday play session for children with SEND and their families.
• Parents provide plenty of positive feedback about the nursery. They talk about how staff share important information that helps them to support children's learning at home. Parents say that staff 'go above and beyond their expectations' and how well their family has been supported. New parents report that they are happy with the security measures in place. Others comment, 'I love it. All of the staff are amazing.' They also report that their children 'love' coming to the nursery.
• The provider places a strong focus on staff, children and families' well-being. Staff have opportunities to develop their professional skills and knowledge. However, the programme of professional development is not sharply focused on driving the quality of teaching to the highest level.
• Staff do not always make the most of information gained from parents, and their initial observations of children to help them focus more precisely on what each child needs to learn from the very start.
• Children are well behaved. They show care and consideration towards others, sharing toys and playing cooperatively. For example, they look at books together, pointing at pictures as they tell the story.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make better use of the information gained from initial assessments of children's abilities to help plan for what they need to learn from the very start
• build on the already good practice and seek further ways to help all staff develop first-rate teaching skills.