Hopscotch Day Nurseries (Portswood) Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive confidently at the nursery. The friendly staff greet children warmly, which helps children to feel relaxed and settle quickly. Children have developed positive relationships with staff. They understand routines and procedures. For example, older children hang up their coats and self-register attendance. Children are keen to begin their day and seek out their friends. Younger children play alongside each other peacefully. Older children greet each other enthusiastically and initiate conversation.

Children's creativity is supported well. Younger children enjoy using dough, freely choosing from a variety of materials, which they add to create different textures. They use their imagination to talk about what they have created. Children poke, squeeze and use tools to roll out the dough and manipulate it into different shapes. This helps to develop and strengthen muscles in their fingers and hands. Older children enjoy making dough. Staff encourage children to add and mix ingredients. This helps children to explore, measure and experiment.

Children are confident communicators. Young children use gesture to help staff understand their needs. For example, they pick up books and hand them to staff to read. They point to pictures on the pages. This helps to develop skills in literacy. Older children use role play to develop characters, such as shopkeepers. Staff chat to children about nutritious foods and encourage them to think of other ways to use them, such as tuning oranges into orange juice. This helps to support children's understanding of healthy lifestyles.

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

• Staff provide opportunities for children to access fresh air and exercise outdoors. Children enjoy running and experiment with moving their bodies in a variety of ways. They use gross motor movement while making marks at the water wall, reaching up high and down low. Children learn about hand hygiene and benefit from freshly cooked, nutritious meals each day. This supports their good physical development.
• Parents highly praise the nursery. They comment that they are happy with the service provided by caring, efficient staff and feel that children are well looked after. Parents provide positive feedback about 'home learning packs' and the 'book library'. They state that their children are making good progress with their learning and development.
• Staff know children well. They find out what children know and can do through settling-in sessions, talking to parents, and observations. Staff plan next steps for children's learning based on their interests. For instance, children enjoy using containers to fill and pour sand. However, not all staff provide quality interactions with children during activities. This means that children are not always engaged in purposeful learning.
• The manager and the special educational needs coordinator work closely to identify children who require extra support. They ensure that children with special education needs and/or disabilities are able to access the support they need. Staff swiftly inform parents and make referrals to other professionals. This ensures that outcomes for children are improved further.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff praise children's efforts during routines and activities. They remind children about rules and procedures. However, not all staff are consistent in their approach to managing challenging behaviour. This means that children do not fully understand what is expected of them and, as a result, behaviour can be disruptive.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to learn and be curious. For example, children use magnifying lenses to observe plant life. They talk about what flowers need to grow and identify other creatures that rely on them, such as bees. Children investigate their local environment, looking closely at soil and twigs. They chat about what they have discovered and make connections to the weather. This supports children's understanding of the world and develops communication and language skills.
• The leadership and management team has a clear vision for ongoing improvements for the nursery. The manager organises regular meetings with staff and provides good training opportunities for them. Leaders and staff regularly reflect and evaluate the effectiveness of the nursery and outcomes for children. The manager ensures that all staff feel valued and listened to. This ensures that staff well-being is high.
• Staff ensure that children develop an understanding and respect for diversity. Children enjoy learning about different festivals, such as Eid and Chinese New Year, and make connections to their friends' cultural backgrounds. This means that children appreciate and value one another.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff knowledge through training to improve the quality of the interactions and extend children's learning even further
• help staff to consistently teach children the boundaries, so they develop respect for their environment, resources and each other.