Kiddi Caru Day Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe and settled. Young babies and children form close bonds and attachments with key staff. For example, as young babies wake from a sleep, staff provide gentle and reassuring cuddles. This helps them to feel secure. Older children are confident to approach staff for spontaneous cuddles during their play. Children develop good speech and language skills. Staff value regular and spontaneous opportunities to read stories and look at books with children. They provide children with good opportunities to sing songs and encourage children to learn sign language as they do this. This has a positive impact on children's growing communication and vocabulary.

Older children explore the outdoor environment with great interest. They use binoculars to demonstrate clear investigative skills. For example, they identify birds in the trees and find worms and other creatures around them. Children show great care towards these mini-beasts, and after looking at them, place them near to the nursery 'bug hotel'. Children behave well. They are kind and considerate towards each other, demonstrate responsible behaviours and make good choices. For example, they know how to share and take turns and they wait patiently for their turn with particular toys.

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

• The provider has taken a range of positive steps to address the weaknesses identified at their last inspection. For example, the manager assesses the suitability of all staff, including those from outside agencies, before they work directly with children. Induction procedures for agency and employed staff are consistently implemented. This ensures that staff are fully aware of their roles and responsibilities while working at the nursery.
• Staff deployment is effective. The manager or deputy manager completes a twice-daily review of the staff and children present to ensure that staffing arrangements consistently meet the needs of the children attending. This helps to promote children's safety and well-being.
• Staff provide a broad range of experiences for children to enjoy, such as water play and making dough. However, on occasions, staff in the room for two-year-olds do not adjust their teaching to present appropriate challenge. This means some children have less opportunity for their learning to be extended.
• The manager has taken steps to address some weaknesses in teaching. For example, staff supervision has been improved in order to support staff's ongoing teaching practice. However, this is not yet sufficiently embedded to focus sharply enough on raising practice to the highest level.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are given regular information to support their knowledge and understanding of where their children are in their learning. They provide positive feedback relating to staff and the recent changes made to the key-person system.
• Children benefit from the nursery's sensitive settling-in procedures. Staff work closely with parents to help children adapt to change. For example, settling-in visits are organised according to the needs of individual children. Additionally, young children are able to access photos and voice messages of their families during their day at nursery. This often helps them to settle.
• Children make good progress in their overall development. Staff carry out regular observations and assessments of children's learning. However, sometimes, these are not precise enough to inform best teaching practice.
• Older children develop skills in early mathematical concepts. For example, staff encourage children to count in everyday activities. Children learn key skills, such as phonics and early mark making. This helps to prepare them for school.
• Children have good opportunities for daily outdoor play, whatever the weather. Staff carry out daily risk assessments to ensure the environment is safe. This helps to promote children's safety. Staff remind children to think about their own safety, for example when using the outdoor equipment.
• Staff provide children with a range of nutritious meals. All staff take great care at mealtimes to ensure that children's dietary needs and individual requirements are met. For example, children have individual colour-coded plates and placemats. This helps to ensure that they are given the right food.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• adapt teaching to provide further challenge and to support children's growing interests and engagement
• develop staff supervision to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level
• support staff to deepen their knowledge and understanding of effective observations and assessments as a way of identifying children's individual learning needs.