Jack In The Box In Blurtons Children's Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their play and learning and quickly settle in when they arrive. They enthusiastically greet staff and their friends and excitedly join in their chosen activities. Children make good progress in all areas of learning. They are curious learners and eager to take part in activities and new experiences. Children look forward to their weekly 'pyramid' physical session, where they engage in outdoor activities. Great excitement is had as children run around chasing staff and finding matching cards with colours and shapes.

Children enjoy counting, measuring quantities and comparing the size of different objects as they learn about volume and capacity. They repeatedly empty and fill various containers using materials, such as sand and water. Older children use numbers in their daily play as they pick pom-poms out of the water. Older children learn to recognise letters in their names. They use sticks to tap out simple rhymes and syllables in their names and learn phonics. Children enjoy making marks as they draw with chalk on the ground outdoors. Children behave well. They understand the 'golden rules' and staff talk about why these are in place. For example, to be kind to their friends and to keep everyone safe.

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

• Staff swiftly identified that many children had fallen behind due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, particularly in their language, behaviour and making relationships. Staff have worked relentlessly to help children catch up in all aspects of their development and, as a result, they are making good progress. Staff place a high focus on including mathematics and literacy through many of the activities children enjoy. For example, toddlers enjoy counting and learning about size as they use tweezers to pick up worms.
• Play areas are bright and interesting and reflect the interests and needs of children. Staff clearly understand what children can already do and what they need to learn next. They take opportunities as they arise, to build on what children already know and extend their learning even further, for example by creating fact cards about dinosaurs.
• Children enjoy healthy and nutritious snacks and meals, cooked fresh daily, and are offered an alternative if the meal is something they do not eat. Fresh fruits are offered at snack time. This ensures children develop good eating habits. Staff leave some fruit whole, so they can talk to children about what a pineapple looks like and how it grows.
• The manager and staff are passionate about their roles. The manager has an ambitious vision for the kind of provision she wants the nursery to be for the children. Staff feel valued and appreciated and speak highly of the management team. They benefit from regular training and feedback about their performance.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are good. During the pandemic, the manager and staff have maintained effective ongoing telephone and video contact with the children and their families. The staff recorded stories and created home learning packs with activity ideas for parents to do with their children. Consequently, children's transitions back into the nursery have been successful. Children enjoy taking 'Barney the Bear' home and sharing their adventures. Parents share 'wow moments' and their 'hopes and dreams' for their children, such as using the potty. Parents speak highly of the staff and the support their children receive. They describe the staff as being 'one in a million, like family'.
• Staff provide effective support for children in receipt of early years pupil premium. Additional funding has been used to buy resources to develop children's communication and language skills and their physical skills. This has supported children effectively to develop their vocabulary and their physical development. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well. Teaching is good. However, occasionally, less confident staff ask children too many questions without giving the children enough time to respond.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's professional development further to support them to develop their questioning skills by giving children time to respond.