Hyde Woodlands Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm welcome to children and their families. Children arrive at the setting with big smiles, ready to begin learning. Staff have formed warm, nurturing relationships with the children and know them incredibly well. They are attuned to children's individual needs. For example, they recognise when children are feeling sad or tired and offer them a cuddle for reassurance. This supports their emotional well-being. Children show they feel safe and secure. Staff are positive role models. They offer positive praise to children to recognise their achievements. This immediately boosts children's self-esteem and supports children to develop a positive 'can-do' attitude to learning.

The curriculum for communication and language development is promoted well. Staff sequence children's language by building on what children know and can do. For example, staff in the baby room encourage children to use single words in their play. Younger children are encouraged to match words to actions, such as 'pat' as they build sandcastles. Staff skilfully embed language within their play, repeating vocabulary for children to hear and use. They have introduced sign language and visual aids to help children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to communicate their wants and needs. This ensures all children can express their views and ideas. Furthermore, staff broaden older children's vocabulary by learning new words such as 'chrysalis' and 'shimmery'. Children make good progress in their language development. They are confident and articulate communicators.

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

• Support for children with SEND is well embedded. Staff monitor children's development closely and take swift action when gaps are identified. They work closely with parents and other professionals to plan and provide targeted support. Additional funding is used to meet the needs of individual children, helping to close gaps in learning. As a result, children with SEND make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff demonstrate a secure understanding of the curriculum intentions and use them effectively to build on what children know and can do in play. They skilfully follow children's interests, while maintaining a strong focus on their individual next steps. This enables staff to extend children's skills and knowledge consistently.
• Staff plan the daily routine well. Staff support children in a caring manner when transitioning into the setting and through activities. However, sometimes, staff do not organise themselves effectively, particularly when routines and transitions change, such as playing from indoors to outdoors. This means that, occasionally, children become less engaged in their learning.
• Children display a love for books and rhymes. Staff use non-fiction books, which sparks children's curiosity as they learn about butterflies. Children independently look at books in the quiet area, turning the pages carefully. Staff provide children with the option to choose their own rhymes to sing. Children excitedly join in with the key phrases and actions. These experiences promote children's early literacy skills.
• Staff help children to learn about the wider world. For instance, children learn about life cycles as they care for butterflies within the setting. Staff talk with the children about the different features of the butterflies, such as 'antennae' and 'straw mouths'. This enables children to develop their understanding of the world around them and experience caring for living things.
• Staff give children plenty of opportunities to take part in group experiences to enhance their social development. For example, smaller-group times are used to support children's turn-taking skills. However, some group times are too large and not pitched at the right level for younger children, meaning some children become distracted. Therefore, the group times do not always meet children's individual learning needs.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents speak highly of the staff team. They praise staff for their effective communication. Staff share photos on the online app and provide daily discussions with parents about their child's progress. This helps to maintain continuity in children's learning.
• Leaders provide a range of supervision and coaching for all staff. Professional development opportunities are carefully targeted to ensure that staff have the necessary skills to best support the children in their care. For example, staff have recently completed safer sleep training, which has strengthened staff's knowledge of safer sleeping principles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to effectively plan and organise transitions in daily routines for the younger children, to ensure children remain focused and engaged
• consider how large-group times are structured, to ensure they meet the needs of all children.