Kiddi Caru Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children with a smile when they arrive for their session. This helps children to feel welcome and they soon settle in the well-equipped and calming environment. Staff make sure children play outdoors daily. Children develop their physical skills and take managed risks with staff close by as they climb and slide on the large equipment. Staff plan a curriculum that ultimately prepares children to be ready for school. They plan activities to build on children's interests, confidence and independence. For example, staff offer pre-school children physical education sessions, when they change their own clothes and engage in physical exercise sessions.

Staff give children clear boundaries and teach them to be kind and respectful. They encourage children to manage disputes amicably. Occasionally, when children struggle to share, staff manage these situations sensitively. Staff play alongside children, which motivates them to learn. Children show good levels of engagement as they take part in a variety of activities and experiences. For example, younger children delight in role-play games with the dolls. They point to the doll and say, 'sore'. Staff model and repeat language to help to develop children's vocabulary. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) enjoy good levels of one-to-one support that staff provide for them. Staff work closely with other agencies to ensure these children make good progress.

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

• The manager encourages staff to access training to help to support their knowledge of early years. For example, training helps staff to develop their understanding of the relevance of resources in the baby room, such as treasure baskets. They understand how these help to develop babies' sensory learning and development.
• Staff implement a curriculum that helps children to develop their skills as they progress through the nursery. For example, staff provide opportunities for children to develop their small- and large-muscle skills. Older toddlers use their hands when they use lemon squeezers to extract juice from lemons. Babies develop their strength when they push items into shape-sorter boxes. Pre-school children use their arms when they use toothbrushes to brush the teeth of pretend dinosaurs.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. They read to children throughout the day and children thoroughly enjoy taking part in planned and spontaneous singing sessions. Staff use sign language alongside the spoken word to support children who do not speak or who speak English as an additional language.
• Staff are knowledgeable about the needs of their key children. They know their children's interests and identify what they want children to learn next. Staff engage children in dialogue as they play and comment on their actions. However, at times, staff do not make the most of all opportunities to extend children's learning even further. One example of this is when babies show they can roll wooden discs. Staff praise babies for their achievements, but do not help them to repeat or build on this skill. As a result, babies wander off.
• Staff create an environment that is calm and inviting. This helps children to feel relaxed. Staff praise children for their efforts, achievements and positive behaviour. This impacts positively on children's behaviour.
• Generally, staff interactions are supportive of children's learning. For instance, when staff play with children they are joyous and enthusiastic. However, staff interactions are not consistently of such a high quality. At times, children seek adult attention when staff are otherwise engaged, such as when they are serving lunch, and receive limited attention.
• Staff help pre-school children to think about the effect that exercise has on their bodies. After being outside, they talk to children about why their heart rate may be high. Furthermore, staff talk to the children about how water keeps them hydrated after exercise.
• Children benefit from opportunities that broaden their experiences of living creatures. For example, they learn how to be kind and caring when they interact with the nursery guinea pig. Staff encourage the children to use 'kind hands' when they pet and feed Percy the guinea pig. Children have the opportunity to take the guinea pig home at weekends and share caring for him with their families.
• Partnership with parents is a particular strength. Parents report that staff are 'amazing' and their children often do not want to come home. Staff share ideas and provide a wealth of activities that parents can try at home to support their child's learning. This helps to improve outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to make the most of all opportunities to extend children's learning even further
• improve staff interactions to provide children with consistently high-quality interactions.