Jelli Tots Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have close, warm relationships with children. They value each child highly. Staff take time to get to know children and help them to settle well. They provide activities linked to children's individual interests. Children enjoy a curriculum is interesting and wide ranging. They gain useful skills in preparation for school. Children take part in a good range of stimulating activities. For example, they use their imagination to create models from recyclable materials. Children join objects together using masking tape and string skilfully. This supports their creative development well. Children take delight in playing with sea creatures in the water tray. Staff teach them the names of the creatures, such as whale, octopus and shark, and talk about how they live in the water. This helps children to gain a good understanding of the world. Children have good early mathematical skills. For instance, staff point out and name shapes in the environment and use mathematical language to describe size and weight. Staff have high expectations of children. They manage behaviour successfully. For instance, they help children to understand why their behaviour is not acceptable and work with them to find positive solutions.

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

• Children have good physical skills. For example, they learn different body movements as staff teach them the Bollywood dance style. In the garden, staff play organised ball games with children to develop their coordination. Children climb, run and are learning to balance well.
• Staff teach children good communication and language skills. They sing a wide variety of action songs and rhymes where children learn new words. Children practise their communication skills as they have conversations with each other on a talking telephone tube. Staff run focus groups so that children can have additional support to develop their communication and language skills further.
• Staff present good challenges to children. For instance, during a counting activity, the most-able children roll two number die and add them together. They then take a corresponding quantity of objects. This supports their mathematical skills well.
• Staff help children to learn about and respect difference. For instance, staff teach children about special cultural or religious festivals, such as Diwali. They learn about difference by listening to stories which contain characters from diverse cultural backgrounds. Children have access to dolls, puzzles and dressing-up clothes which represent different races and cultures. This helps children to understand and respect others.
• Staff provide very effective support to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They develop comprehensive plans with highly relevant targets for each child. Staff regularly review these plans to ensure that children are supported well.
• Staff work with parents and others successfully. They give parents regular updates on children's progress in a variety of flexible, effective ways. Staff provide good ways for parents to support children's learning. For example, parents take home books and puppets to support children's communication and language skills. Staff work very closely with other professionals involved in children's lives to promote best outcomes for children.
• The manager supports staff well. She meets with staff regularly to discuss workloads and well-being, and offers assistance where needed. The manager talks to staff about their training needs. For example, staff have attended several courses, including a course on promoting oral health.
• Staff support children's social development well. They work with groups of children to develop specific skills, such as learning to share, through role play. For instance, staff use puppets to help children discuss their ideas to solve a problem about sharing.
• Staff provide children with healthy meals and snacks. They ensure that children have daily physical challenges.
• Although staff are clear about the curriculum intent for group activities, there are occasions when this is not implemented effectively. There are times when noise from one group of children affects another, and this impacts on some children's ability to concentrate.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review how groups activities are organised to ensure that children can concentrate well to promote their best outcomes.