Kiddi Caru Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from their time spent at this inviting and homely nursery. They engage well in the wide range of exciting activities and resources available to them. For example, children show high levels of interest in the visiting ambulance and paramedics. They keenly explore the ambulance and learn about how they help people. Children enjoy learning about the recovery position and make suggestions of how to help someone who may have hurt their knee. They suggest a 'cold compress' and to 'wrap a bandage' around it. Staff extend their knowledge and understanding with challenging questions, such as what the symbol on a first-aid box means. Experiences such as these, help to widen the children's understanding of the world in which they live.

Children's behaviour is positive. They are friendly and kind to one another. Babies and children demonstrate their attachments to staff as they seek them out for cuddles and reassurance. Babies are curious towards visitors as they make their way over to meet them. Their smiley faces towards visitors demonstrate that babies feel safe and secure in the nursery environment. Staff are consistent in their gentle approach to supporting children to manage their behaviours. They help children to learn how they feel by labelling their emotions.

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

• Managers work alongside staff to ensure that there is a shared understanding of the curriculum areas. Key areas of the curriculum include building children's attachments with staff, developing resilience to challenges and independence. Activities prepare children for future challenges such as transitioning through the nursery and on to school. As a result, children make good progress in all areas of learning.
• The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator liaises well with staff and parents to seek the appropriate help to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities get the support they require. Parents praise the impact the nursery has had on their children's progress.
• Staff support children to make good progress in their speech and language development. Children have regular opportunities to practise their listening and attention skills through whole-group activities. They sing songs and enjoy listening to books which helps to extend their vocabulary. Staff use sign language to aid communication for all children. However, staff do not consider the impact on babies' developing language skills when the babies have dummies in their mouths for long periods.
• Children thoroughly enjoy their outdoor play in the garden. Babies and young children enjoy outdoor play where they practise their physical skills, such as crawling and walking. Older children have large spaces to develop their coordination, balance and climbing skills. They enjoy the natural elements of the garden where they watch insects in the wildflowers. Children are immersed in their role play as they make marks on white boards. Occasionally, staff do not always recognise when children might need more support to help them get the most out of the learning experiences.
• Staff support children to develop healthy lifestyles. Children benefit from daily teeth brushing to promote their good oral health. They independently manage their own hygiene needs as they wash their hands before eating and wipe their noses at the 'snuffle stations'. The relaxed routines of the nursery ensure that children's physical and emotional needs are catered for. For example, children learn to recognise when they are hungry and access the meals that staff provide on a rolling basis.
• Managers recognise their valuable staff team members and how to support their well-being. Staff feel happy and supported in their roles. They have good opportunities to continue their professional development through training with managers.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents report that their children are 'always proud to tell us about what they have done at nursery'. They appreciate the regular communication with their child's key person and feel well informed about their developmental progress. They say the settling-in process and transition times when children move through the nursery are well managed by the friendly staff and managers.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• coach staff to consider the impact of the extended use of dummies on babies' emerging speech so that they have lots of opportunities to babble and develop their language skills
• review staff deployment to help staff make the most of all opportunities to build on children's learning.