Innovations Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children spend a lot of time outdoors. They have many opportunities to enhance their physical well-being. Children run up the grassy mound and climb apparatus. They have great fun with their friends, building dens with natural materials. Toddlers and older children learn about the planting and growing process. They show how they can listen and respond to questions. For example, older children recall how they previously planted carrots in the allotment. Toddlers and older children learn how the plants 'suck up' water from the roots to help them grow. They smell the compost and laugh out loud as they say it smells like 'chocolate poop'. Toddlers and older children use a tape measure to check the height of the sunflower plant. They use words such as 'small' and 'tall' to show their mathematical knowledge. Staff adapt their teaching so that they include all children. For example, they use signs and action with words when children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) join the play. Staff have high expectations for every child and what they can achieve. Children develop the skills they need for starting school.

Children play cooperatively and show positive behaviours. They are kind to their friends, share and take turns. Children show how they are happy and feel safe in the care of staff.

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

• Managers and staff have worked hard to meet the actions raised at the last inspection. Together they continue to make positive changes to the nursery. Although some staff are relatively new to the nursery, they know children's individual care and learning needs well. This is due to the robust induction procedures in place.
• The curriculum supports children's communication and language development well. Babies make animal sounds as they sing along to songs. Toddlers sing rhymes that also help them to develop their understanding of number. They use objects such as wooden spoons to recognise how things change in a group when they take an item away.
• Managers encourage professional development opportunities for staff, and some are working towards recognised qualifications. They support staff to undertake peer observations so that they can quickly identify where to improve individual practice. However, managers have not yet fully embedded this practice to ensure a consistently high standard in the teaching of the curriculum.
• Children enjoy healthy, balanced and nutritious meals. The nursery cook caters for children's individual dietary requirements. Children take part in the oral hygiene programme and brush their teeth daily. Staff are aware of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on some children's social development. They support toddlers extremely well to follow mealtime routines and to sit at the table to eat with their friends.
• A strength of the nursery is the support it has in place for children with SEND. Staff swiftly identify children who work below expectations. This leads to a first-class support programme and extremely effective partnership working with a range of professionals and parents. Staff ensure children get the support that they rightly deserve. They monitor individual learning and healthcare plans with rigour and precision. Children with SEND achieve the best possible outcomes.
• Managers and staff continue to minimise the risk of transmitting COVID-19. Parents do not enter the playrooms. Staff provide information about children verbally, electronically and through progress reports. They share ideas for parents to help learning at home, for example through stories and rhymes. Parents speak highly about their children's care and experiences at the nursery. Their written comments show how their children are always happy to attend and how they 'love' telling parents about their day at nursery.
• Key persons carry out children's personal care needs. There is also a second key person to do this for the continued emotional security of the child. Staff establish warm and nurturing bonds with children. They know those who need extra support to manage their emotions. For example, when toddlers begin to tire around lunchtime, staff offer reassuring cuddles and a comfort item from home to help them settle.
• Managers use additional funding effectively to enhance children's learning experiences. This contributes to the good progress children make. Managers and staff use assessment well to check what children already know and can do. However, they do not use assessment routinely to challenge children's learning further, including those who are exceeding expectations.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed the system for monitoring staff's practice to ensure teaching is consistently of a high standard
• continue to improve the existing good systems for assessment to challenge children's learning further, particularly those who are exceeding expectations.