Karetakers Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and separate well from parents at this friendly nursery. They are eager to see their friends and engage in the activities on offer. Children have strong relationships with staff and feel safe and secure in their care. Staff work closely with parents when children start to gather information about what children can already do. This helps them to plan children's first sessions effectively and helps to support their emotional well-being. Staff are positive role models. They support children to develop friendships and good social skills. Children follow instructions, and they are well behaved and considerate towards each other.

Children encounter a well-structured curriculum that is tailored to meet their varying needs. Staff have high expectations for children. They work closely with parents and other professionals where children have additional needs. Children thrive on consistent daily routines. For example, when staff remind children to line up, children do so quickly, putting a hand on their friend's shoulder. There is a range of activities available for children to choose from. Activities are well planned to spark children's curiosity. As a result, all children are given good opportunities to achieve well. Children are confident, independent, and motivated to learn.

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

• The manager has created a balanced and sequenced curriculum, which is designed to help children to build on their knowledge and skills. She considers children's prior learning and how this can be extended as they grow and move through the nursery. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff know the children well. They understand children's individual interests and plan suitable activities around these. This supports children in becoming engaged in their learning. Staff identify accurate next steps in learning for their key children and incorporate these into their planning. However, staff do not consistently recognise children's growing awareness of mathematics in their environment. They sometimes miss chances to extend children's mathematical vocabulary while they play.
• Staff help children to become independent. Babies are supported to learn how to use a spoon to feed themselves. All children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills in the outdoor areas. There are opportunities to climb, ride bikes and run around. Children also enjoy exploring nature as they plant their seeds and bulbs. Older children put on their own coats and see to their own toileting needs. Children show they are secure in established routines in preparation for school.
• Staff consistently speak to children as they play. They have conversations with them, and use lots of repetitive language. This helps to widen children's vocabularies. Staff use singing, action rhymes and stories as part of everyday practice. However, on occasion, some group activities focus on older or most-able children, and some children do not engage as well or participate throughout.
• Staff manage behaviour well and understand which strategies work for individual children. Staff use a range of opportunities to support turn taking and sharing. They ensure that the techniques they use are appropriate for the child's level of understanding. As a result, children learn to understand rules and boundaries.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff share information as they speak with parents at drop off and collection times. They encourage them to view and add to children's online learning records. Staff use daily diaries for the youngest children to share information about children's care needs and routines. Parents enjoy looking at photographs that staff add to children's learning records. They feel that they know what children are learning and the progress they are making.
• The manager is highly reflective and committed to making ongoing improvements. She has a clear oversight of the setting and how to support staff. Staff report good levels of well-being and engage in regular supervisions with the manager. This helps to identify training needs. However, the manager recognises that targeted training for staff would help to strengthen the quality of teaching even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to deliver the mathematics curriculum more effectively, to further enhance children's understanding of numbers, counting and mathematical concepts
• organise group activities more effectively to better meet the needs of younger or less-confident children to help them to engage throughout
• continue to support staff to develop their already good practice to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level.