Jancett Childcare, Park Lane, Carshalton

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this nursery. They enjoy playing with their friends, which promotes their social and emotional skills effectively. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive the right level of support to help narrow the gaps in their learning. They delight in hearing new words, singing songs and listening to stories. This helps to develop and extend children's vocabulary. There are plenty of opportunities for children to practise their increasing physical abilities. For example, younger children test their crawling and walking skills as they explore the indoor environment. Outdoors, older children show good concentration as they use their core muscles on the obstacle course.

Children become socially confident learners. They greet new people and interact with them happily. Children learn about the wider world as part of their curriculum. They hear different languages, such as Gujarati and French, to raise their understanding about similarities and differences between people. Children work collaboratively. For instance, during spontaneous play, they invite their peers to 'build a house' and 'fix things' together. Children show they feel safe and emotionally secure.

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

• The nursery manager, who is passionate about her work with children, is relatively new to her role. She receives good levels of support from the provider and senior leaders. This enables the manager to provide a strong leadership and communicate her high expectations for staff, parents and their children.
• Staff talk positively about the supervision and opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. Following training, for example, they have improved the teaching of mathematics to embed children's learning in this area. This is helping children with their number and problem-solving skills effectively.
• Staff carry out precise observations and assessments of children's learning. They place a strong emphasis on promoting their literacy-based curriculum. This introduces children to carefully selected core stories, which build on their interests and needs. As a result, children are highly motivated to play and learn.
• Children develop a good understanding of a healthy lifestyle. For example, they learn where food comes from and how it helps their rapid growth and development. Children have access to exercise and fresh air regularly. They talk about the importance of oral hygiene and the effect this has on their teeth. These practices contribute positively to children's physical and mental well-being.
• Children gain self-care and independence skills. They make choices about their play and seek help from staff if needed. Older children take responsibility for their own personal needs, including toileting.
• Staff implement successful strategies to engage all parents in their children's learning in the nursery and at home. For example, they make effective use of 'Jancett Talks' to support parents with their understanding of school readiness. This ensures that children are well prepared for the next stage of their education. Parents are very complimentary of the staff and the service they provide. They recognise the good progress their children make, especially in their communication and language skills.
• Staff establish strong attachments with the children. They give children consistent messages, which promote their positive behaviour. However, during busy times, staff do not fully consider the support afforded to children. For example, the organisation of mealtimes leaves children waiting for too long. The environment can also be noisy, which makes it difficult for children to be fully engaged with their learning during this time.
• The manager is proactive in seeking the views of parents and other professionals to help evaluate the quality of their provision. She has reviewed the indoor environment recently, which has resulted in children being more confident learners. The manager plans to make improvements to the outside area to extend children's play opportunities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to manage routines and changes more effectively, particularly during mealtimes, to help keep children fully engaged at these times.