Incey Winceys Childcare Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy in this nursery. They are greeted by kind and nurturing staff who are genuinely pleased to see them. Children's emotional well-being is well supported. Staff help children who have recently joined to settle quickly. They provide lots of reassurance and help them to build friendships and understand the daily routine. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), seek out staff for comfort and cuddles. This helps to build children's self-esteem and confidence.

Children make good use of the accessible and inviting resources within the nursery. Children work collaboratively and demonstrate good speaking skills, for example when they discuss a past event about a fox in the garden. Older children show their emerging interest in books as they choose favourite stories to share with staff. Children have plenty of opportunities for fresh air and enjoy a range of activities in the outdoor area.

Staff support children's behaviour well. For example, they encourage children to be kind to each other. Furthermore, staff give children gentle reminders to return toys once they have finished playing with them. Therefore, children demonstrate good levels of respect for each other, staff and their environment.

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

• Managers are positive about the continuous improvement of the setting. They engage support from outside agencies to improve the services that they provide to children and their families. Staff work well together. They work hard to provide a quality service for families and a home-from-home experience for children.
• Staff know children well. They are aware of where children are in their learning and what they need to do to promote children's continuing progress. However, their teaching does not always support children's play and learning to the highest level, especially around their mathematical understanding.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. They use every opportunity to engage children in conversations. Staff provide children with new vocabulary, which they then use in their play. For example, children use the word 'smooth' as they handle a pumpkin and describe the skin texture.
• Children with SEND are very well supported. The dedicated coordinator works together with families and external agencies to ensure that children's developmental and emotional needs are met. Through early intervention and targeted support, children with SEND are included in every aspect of the nursery. This helps these children to make the best possible progress.
• Children learn how to look after themselves. They know the importance of washing their hands and wiping their noses. Staff teach children how to keep safe, such as holding on and walking safely downstairs.
• Children learn to behave well and use their manners. They respond positively to reminders from staff, who teach them to think of others. Children form friendships and work collaboratively with each other. However, staff provide some larger group activities that are not particularly meaningful to all children, which means some children quickly become frustrated and lose interest.
• Staff implement daily routines that help to support children's physical health and independence. For instance, children understand the importance of washing their hands before eating. They do this carefully and sensibly.
• Staff feel supported by the manager and are happy in their roles. They feel positive about working in a small and close-knit team. Managers provide staff with some coaching and support, including training on the curriculum. However, this is not tailored to meet staff's specific training needs. Therefore, although this develops staff's practice, it does not fully enhance some staff's consistency of teaching and interactions with children.
• Parents comment positively about staff. They say that staff are very welcoming and their children are happy. Staff talk to parents daily and share information with them about their children's learning and development. This helps to keep them informed about their children's day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's teaching skills to extend children's learning and development experiences, especially around mathematics
• review the organisation of larger group activities to ensure that all children remain fully engaged and interested in their learning
• strengthen how leaders identify and provide the necessary support for individual staff to improve the consistency of their interactions, skills and knowledge.