Just Kids Daycare Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create an inviting environment that encourages children into the nursery. Children separate well from their parents, and are greeted by friendly staff as they arrive. They delight as they enter the lobby and greet the nursery's pet love birds. Staff develop strong bonds with children. They are attentive to children's needs, offering cuddles and reassurance to help to settle children. This helps children to feel emotionally secure.

Staff consistently apply high expectations for children's behaviour. They support children to develop a sense of right and wrong and teach them how to manage their own conflicts. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning. For example, while making smoothies, they persevere with chopping the fruit and wait patiently for their friends to take their turn.

Staff ensure that all children have regular opportunities to explore and play outside. This has a positive impact on children's health and well-being. Children have a wide variety of opportunities to practise and develop their physical skills. For example, babies delight in catching bubbles in the air. Toddlers use nets to collect shells and stones from the water tray, and older children attempt to use bats and balls.

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

• The provider is committed to continually improving the nursery. The new manager has high expectations for all children, which she is keen to fully implement into her vision for the nursery. Managers work well to regularly review staff's practice, and they work alongside staff, modelling high-quality teaching. This guides staff to enhance their work with children.
• Managers structure their curriculum to provide children with sequenced learning experiences. They ensure that children acquire the necessary skills that they need for future success. For example, staff focus on improving children's literacy skills by having a focus storybook. Children also make use of a lending library in the nursery.
• Staff provide children with a healthy diet and support them to be physically active in their daily routines. They teach children about staying safe and encourage them to independently manage their own hygiene. For example, children wipe their own noses and wash their hands after going to the toilet. Children learn about how to take care of the environment. They grow plants and herbs, collecting water from the nursery water butt, and proudly use the recycling bins.
• Children are provided with experiences to broaden their knowledge of the world around them. For example, they have regular trips in and around the local community, and visit the library and forest. Staff also organise family day trips, such as a coach visit to a farm. Parents are encouraged to be part of nursery events. For example, the nursery recently held a Father's Day football match.
• Staff consistently remind children of the nursery's golden rules, such as taking turns and using kind hands. Children are familiar with their daily routines. Staff use a visual timetable to help children to understand what is happening now and next. Staff use the sensory room to support children's emotional well-being. They monitor children's progress. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, receive the support that they need to make good progress from their starting points in development.
• Children learn new vocabulary and staff improve children's pronunciation of sounds by repeating words back to them. Overall, staff are skilled at interacting with children. However, on occasion, during focused group activities, staff do not always ask children questions that help to extend older children's thinking skills.
• The management team and staff have worked hard to build relationships with parents and other professionals. Parents speak highly of the nursery. They say that their children enjoy their time at the nursery and are eager to attend. However, although staff share information with parents, this is not yet focused on how parents can further support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance adult-led activities to make more use of opportunities to extend children's thinking skills
• continue to enhance opportunities to fully involve parents in their children's learning.