Jack in a Box Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very excited to enter the setting. They separate from parents straightaway and come running through the door into the calming room. Staff have made recent changes to the layout and design of the room to make it more of a home-from-home environment for children. This helps them to settle quickly and become engrossed in their learning.

Children display good social skills. They willingly help one another throughout the day. For example, at snack time, children kindly pour each other drinks of milk. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour, praising them when they are helpful. This helps to encourage children's positive behaviour. Children happily play together and have fun as they create their own games.

Staff support children to develop their early writing skills. They provide a variety of mark-making resources, which children access freely. For example, children show an interest in drawing lines on the garden floor using chalks. Staff recognise this and join in with the children's drawing. Staff draw spiders, which encourages children to excitedly count the correct number of legs. Staff's high-quality support allows children to deepen their knowledge in specific areas of learning.

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

• The manager has created a meaningful curriculum based on each child's needs. Staff carefully follow children's unique interests and approaches to play to plan activities they will enjoy. For example, staff provide resources that allow children to carry and move items from one place to another. This helps children to make good progress and develop positive attitudes towards their learning.
• Staff use the outdoor space effectively to teach children about how things grow. They have planted a variety of different vegetables and flowers, such as peppers and sunflowers. Children show pride in their achievements as they confidently name the plants. These experiences give children a sense of responsibility as they learn how to care for plants and grow fresh, healthy foods to eat.
• Overall, staff help children to develop their communication skills. They use good questioning to help children reflect on and talk about events in the past. For example, staff ask children what they had for breakfast. This encourages children to think about their own experiences and learn about others. However, during snack time, staff do not always follow the same approach when communicating with children who need support to develop their language. Therefore, at these times, not all children have the same opportunities to develop their thinking skills and share their ideas.
• Children develop their physical skills. They become engrossed in working together to build towers. Children show high levels of enjoyment, developing their strength, balance and core muscles as they climb and jump. Staff support children to learn about safety. For example, as children climb up high, they ask them to think about how safe they are. Children are learning how to manage risks safely.
• Overall, children behave well. They listen and respond positively to staff's instructions, such as finding their coats and lining up at the door. However, at times, staff are inconsistent in their expectations of children's self-care skills. This does not help all children learn to complete simple self-care tasks confidently. For example, not all children hang up their coats, and some attempt to sit at the table before washing their hands.
• Communication and partnership with parents are key strengths of the nursery. The manager is dedicated to helping parents understand ways in which to extend and support children's learning. She organises home learning bags and provides books for children to use at home. This helps to ensure that children continue to make good progress during the summer holidays.
• The small team of staff works well together, and morale is high. Staff talk about how much they enjoy their role, and they feel well supported by the manager. The manager acts as a good role model, encouraging staff to regularly engage in reflection tasks. This allows them to identify areas to improve on, enhancing the quality of the experiences provided for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for all children to fully extend their speech, language and vocabulary, particularly children with delayed speech
• support staff to further develop children's self-care skills and help them take more responsibility for themselves.