Ilm Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide children with a safe and stimulating environment. They focus on helping children to settle quickly and foster relationships with them and their families. This helps children to feel safe in their surroundings. The tailored settling-in arrangements help children to settle quickly in this calm environment. Children are happy and confident. They make choices in their play and welcome the positive interactions from staff.

The curriculum is ambitious for all children, including for those children who speak English as an additional language and for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff place a clear focus on supporting children's communication and language development. They make good use of stories and props to help develop children's language, understanding and listening skills. Staff focus on helping children to become independent learners. They encourage children to try things for themselves and offer praise and reassurance. Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Staff encourage them to make marks in flour, sand and paint. They provide a range of tools for children to practise using. This helps to improve children's dexterity and helps them gain skills for early writing. Outdoors, children practise riding bicycles and delight in painting, using their large muscles as they paint the fence with large rollers.

Staff are positive role models. They offer gentle reminders to children and help them to understand the consequences of their actions. Staff talk to children about their emotions and use a range of activities to support children to manage their own feelings and behaviours.

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

• Leaders and managers are knowledgeable and dedicated to providing children with a good-quality provision. They know the local area and understand the needs of the children and families who attend the provision. They implement a sequenced curriculum that provides all children with opportunities to build on their prior experiences and gain skills for their future learning.
• Children have opportunities to freely explore the continuous provision. Staff plan activities based on children's interests. They assess children and identify their next steps in learning. However, some staff do not always use what they know about children, including using the information gained during the settling-in period, to consistently plan precisely to help children to fully embed new knowledge to help them make the best possible progress.
• The support for children with SEND is good. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is very knowledgeable and passionate about providing children and families with the support they need. She is sensitive in her approach to having conversations with parents when a special educational need is identified. The SENCo works with staff to implement targets swiftly to help close gaps in children's learning.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well to reach a good standard of English. When children first start, staff gain lots of information to help them get to know the children. They complete language assessment tools to identify any delays in children's language. Many staff are bilingual, and they talk to children in English and repeat words in their home language. They speak clearly, use pictures and gestures and get down to the children's level.
• Children make their needs known when they want to use the toilet, and staff support and encourage them to develop confidence with managing their personal care needs. Children enjoy a free-flow snack time. Staff sit with children to aid communication and keep them safe while eating. Children know to wash their hands before sitting down to eat. Staff explain the routines to new children to help them learn what is happening now and next. Children chat away to staff and their peers as they enjoy their snack. They pour their own drinks, choose their fruit and have a go at spreading butter on their crackers.
• Children show a positive attitude to their learning. They form friendships and are beginning to negotiate with others and manage conflict. However, occasionally, some staff are not consistent with the messages they give to children. For example, when children are told there are too many children in the water and some need to wait their turn, they are then left to carry on playing in the water. At times, messages can be confusing, particularly for the newest children. This does not help all children to fully understand expectations and boundaries.
• Managers are proactive in identifying support and training for staff. Staff say they feel well supported, and their well-being is considered. They benefit from regular supervisions. Managers swiftly identify targets to continue to raise the quality of teaching and support staff's ongoing professional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide consistent messages to help all children to fully understand expectations and boundaries
• support staff to use what they know about children, including information gained when children first start, to plan more precisely to help all children make maximum progress in their learning.