Jen's Xplorers

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. They cheerfully wave goodbye to their parents and quickly busy themselves with their chosen activity. Staff actively encourage children to do things for themselves. For example, children put on their own high-visibility vests, sun hats and shoes for a trip to the park. This helps to develop children's growing independence skills. Staff model how to stop, look and listen, ensuring children's safety as they learn to cross the road. Children follow staff instructions to hold each other's hands. To this end, children are learning how to keep themselves safe.

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

• Parents are positive about the setting. They state that communication with staff is good, and they value the advice they receive to help with strategies for managing behaviour and toilet training. Parents say their children enjoy going out into the community, playing at the park and visiting the local supermarkets.
• Staff encourage children to share, take turns and use their manners. Children know the daily routines and understand the rules of the setting. Children are praised for their kind behaviour and receive reward stickers, on receipt of which they beam with pride. Staff are vigilant and swiftly intervene if they notice children being unkind to their friends or playing inappropriately. This helps children to consider the impact their behaviour has on others.
• Children show interest in early mathematical concepts. Staff ensure that this is embedded during children's play, where children learn about number, shape, colour and measure. However, staff do not always help children to identify when they are not using their early mathematical skills correctly. For example, on occasion, some children miscount items, and others identify numbers incorrectly. Staff praise children rather than taking the time to sensitively correct this with them. This means that children are not always being provided with the correct information to help further develop their skills and knowledge.
• Staff ensure that routine activities encourage children to develop their independence skills. Children hang their own bags and jackets on their pegs; they pour their own drinks at mealtimes, and they eagerly scrape leftovers from their plates. When staff tidy away toys, children offer to do it instead. This encourages children to take care of resources and help others.
• Staff provide opportunities to develop children's small-muscle skills. This helps them to practise the skills they need for early writing. For example, children focus and work together to build vehicles by fitting tubes, wheels and other connecting parts together. They excitedly tell staff about their creations. Other children dip small brushes in water and use paint blocks to paint pictures of themselves. Staff encourage them to use mirrors to see what their faces look like. Children talk about each other's eyes, hair and who wears glasses. This helps children to value their own uniqueness and that of others.
• Staff support children's developing language and communication skills. For example, children eagerly play with dough. Staff use words such as 'squash' and 'squeeze' and 'rip' and 'roll'. Children copy these words as they manipulate the dough. Children eagerly sit for group story time. Staff ask questions to prompt children's thinking. However, this activity goes on for too long. This results in children disengaging, displaying inappropriate behaviour, and distracting others who are trying to listen. This disrupts children's learning and their ability to fully listen and engage in the activity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently identify when children need support to use mathematical concepts and language, to improve children's knowledge and understanding
• organise story time to enable children to fully engage with the activity, ensuring their learning is not disrupted.