Johnson Garden Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly welcomed into this fully inclusive nursery by attentive staff. Leaders and managers ensure that the environment and experiences on offer create a sense of belonging. For example, staff display the children's photos of experiences they have had outside of the setting. The book areas include photo books of the children's families and pets, and parents visit to share their occupations, such as police officers, with the children.

Children and babies explore happily. They learn to be independent and choose from a broad selection of activities and resources on offer each day. Children and babies love the outdoors, and staff provide many opportunities for them to explore the natural world around them. For instance, babies enjoy watching the passers by in the neighbouring park. Young children use magnifying glasses to take a closer look at the insects they find. Older children participate in growing tomatoes and creating with natural materials such as flowers, leaves and stems.

Children generally behave well and demonstrate an understanding of appropriate behaviour for their age. They are kind towards staff and their peers. Staff consistently model and encourage good manners, which helps to create a calm and respectful atmosphere. Children are learning to take turns and share resources, showing a growing awareness of the needs of others.

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

• Staff promote children's physical development well. Babies learn to walk and climb confidently. Staff support young children to learn how to pedal the ride-on toys and manipulate the play dough for their creations. Older children skilfully crush and print flower petals using small hand tools. They show resilience and determination as they carefully coordinate their small mallets to precisely bash the petals on the cloth, leaving colourful prints. Children demonstrate good strength and physical skills.
• Leaders and staff plan a curriculum that supports and builds on children's learning in each room, linking to their transition to the next room. There is a focus on enhancing children's exploration and curiosity. Staff identify what the children need to learn next and implement this into activities that cover all areas of learning and development. However, at times, the implementation of the curriculum with the younger children does not fully captivate and engage all children. Consequently, on occasion, some children are not supported to test out their own ideas and expand what they know and can do.
• Staff implement an effective key-person system. This supports staff to understand each child's personality, interests and ongoing learning needs. Staff demonstrate that they know the children well. However, the organisation of some care routines for babies and young children is not fully effective. For example, their play and exploration is interrupted for a whole-group nappy changing and potty time. This routine does not consider the babies' and young children's individual intimate care needs.
• Staff support children's communication and language development effectively. For example, they follow children's lead in play. Staff clearly emphasise key words and use gestures during their interactions as well as providing a range of visual aids to support children's developing communication skills. This results in children of all abilities making good progress in their communication.
• Children enjoy a range of healthy meals and nutritious snacks that are freshly prepared on site. Staff implement an effective system to ensure that children's allergies and individual dietary requirements are closely adhered to.
• Parents are positive about this nursery. They feel fully informed and updated about their children's learning from the 'kind and caring' staff team. Parents state that their children love attending. They have seen lots of progress with their children's development and are supported to understand how they can extend learning at home. Parent partnerships are a strength of this nursery.
• The managers are passionate about providing children and families with high-quality care and education. They frequently reflect on practice to specifically identify areas for improvement. For example, staff have accessed training and subsequently made enhancements to the outdoor provision. Older children spend quality time in the 'mud kitchen garden', exploring natural materials and learning about the world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the planning and implementation of the curriculum for younger children to fully capture their interests and engagement, and to encourage them to participate in the full range of experiences available to them to help extend their learning
• review the organisation of care routines to better support children's individual needs, in particular during nappy changing and 'potty time' for babies and younger children.