Jack in the box Nursery Norfolk Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this well-resourced and purposefully designed nursery. Good staffing levels enhance the kind, caring staff's ability to respond to children's needs. Staff in the baby and toddler rooms show particularly strong skills during their interactions with children. They model language very well. Staff use several purposeful strategies, which promote children's ability to understand and use language. Toddlers show their enjoyment of music as they sing and dance with the staff.

Older children have plenty of time and space to explore what interests them. For example, they carefully build towers from magnetic shapes together with their friends. Children share their pretend food with one another in the role-play kitchen. When they occasionally begin to have mishaps in their experimental play, staff promptly notice. Children's behaviour is good and they respond well to staff's guidance. This helps children to build on their understand of how to keep themselves and each other safe. Children develop good self-care skills. They learn how to serve their own food portions from the healthy meals that the nursery supply. Babies show that they understand care routines, such as putting on suncream, as they put their arms out to allow staff to apply it for them.

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

• There has been change in ownership and management of the nursery. Leaders have worked hard to re-stabilise the nursery, following several staff changes. Leaders and managers have an accurate view of the quality of practice. They identify what is working well, as well as areas where they need to focus their attention to develop practice and the provision. This helps to achieve continuous improvement.
• The provider had failed to notify Ofsted of a significant event, which is a requirement of their registration. This was in relation to children's individual dietary needs, as advised by parents, not being closely followed. At inspection however, the provider demonstrated how they have strengthened procedures and staff's knowledge and practice to prevent any future incidents.
• Babies receive attentive care. Staff interact with them thoughtfully. They check sleeping babies carefully at regular intervals to support their safety as they sleep. This helps to protect them from harm.
• A challenging and well-designed curriculum is in place that covers all areas of learning and helps children to develop new knowledge and skills. For example, children have different 'key books' and 'key songs' that they become very familiar with according to their age. However, some staff do not show a deep enough understanding of the curriculum to enable them to consistently support children's learning at all times.
• Staff swiftly identify children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work effectively in partnership with parents and other professionals and put in place clear plans to review children's next steps. This helps them to decide what to teach children.
• Routines in the pre-school room are not well established. At times, this affects the engagement of older children in their learning. They do not consistently benefit from enough well-planned opportunities, relating to aspects of the curriculum that require direct support from adults. However, children show through their skills, knowledge and the progress that they make, that they benefit from their time at nursery.
• Children settle quickly when they start at the nursery. Staff gather information from parents to help them understand children's interests. They explain how they help children to settle by providing activities that they know children enjoy at home. Staff give new children plenty of attention and cuddles when they need them. This helps children to begin to feel safe and secure.
• Overall, parents feel well informed about their children's time at nursery. They notice how staff get to know their individual children well. If parents have concerns, leaders and managers strive to understand and address these.
• Leaders and managers have introduced new strategies to help parents be more involved in their children's learning. For example, they invite parents to stay-and-play sessions. They have also recently changed collection and drop off procedures to allow parents back into the nursery since the changes that were in place following Covid-19 precautions. This has a positive impact on the two-way flow of information between parents, carers and staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help newer staff gain a deeper understanding of the curriculum to enable them to deliver it more effectively
• review routines in the pre-school room to increase staff's focus on supporting children in their learning.