Keeley's Daycare Nurseries & Pre-Schools

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have high expectations for children to behave well. They implement effective strategies that help children to understand how they are expected to behave. This includes talking about what children have done, throughout the day, when they have independently followed the nursery rules. Additionally, staff set clear expectations for behaviour by talking to children when they are about to move to another activity. Children respond positively to this, which supports them to demonstrate a positive attitude to learning.

Staff support children to take appropriate risks. For instance, when children indicate that they want to throw a large wooden dice on the floor, staff support them to do this safely. This helps children to develop an awareness of risks.

Children are supported well to develop their communication and language skills. For instance, when staff notice children experimenting with the different sounds that the metal cups and pots make, they use words to describe these noises. Staff also build on conversations with children to help them make sense of what they have learned. Children enjoy sharing what they know, and staff encourage them to extend their knowledge further by helping them to make links to their past experiences. This helps children to strengthen their ability to engage in back-and-forth conversations.

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

• Leaders are reflective of the service that they provide for children and their families. They have identified parent partnerships as an area of improvement and are focusing on staff training to strengthen communication with parents. This includes giving staff support to provide effective handovers when parents collect their children. This is to enable parents to be better informed about their child's time at nursery.
• Leaders help staff to understand their roles and responsibilities. Room leaders have daily meetings with their teams, which gives them time to discuss the children and how they can support them in their learning for the day. Leaders provide additional support to staff by giving them effective feedback on their teaching skills. This gives staff the support they need to help them to strengthen their practice.
• Staff know their key children well, including their interests and where they are in their development. They use children's interests to build on their skills. For example, they support babies to develop their physical skills by giving them mirrors to look into. This encourages babies to spend time on their tummies, which helps them to strengthen their core muscles.
• Staff arrange the learning environment so that it stimulates children's curiosity.
• Children freely access the activities they want to take part in, such as looking at books. Although children enjoy exploring their surroundings, at times staff do not recognise when opportunities arise to extend children's learning. This does not fully support children to make the progress they are capable of.
• Leaders and staff provide opportunities for children to learn to manage risks. Leaders and staff check equipment to identify any potential hazards and support children to use it safely. For instance, children enjoy walking up planks and climbing on large tyres. Children beam with delight when they complete their task. Staff supervise children during these activities and recognise when they need to step in to support children appropriately. This helps children to develop an awareness of how to keep themselves safe.
• Staff are warm and attentive towards children. They are respectful during their interactions with children. For example, staff ask for permission to help when they can see that children need support or assistance. Staff also respond promptly when children need emotional support, such as when they become upset. Staff offer reassurance and cuddles, which helps children to develop bonds with them.
• Staff ensure that they communicate well with each other. For instance, they tell each other when they take children to another area of the nursery, such as the garden or sensory room. This shows that staff work well together as a team, which promotes children's safety.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build on the quality of their interactions with children so that children consistently benefit from high-quality teaching experiences.