Kiddi Caru Day Nursery and Preschool Coronation Road

Inclusion: Expected standard

Typically, staff check children's progress carefully and put in place swift support to help close any gaps in their learning. They liaise with parents, carers and outside professionals, along with advisors from the local authority, to gain advice and implement targeted support. Overall, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face barriers to their learning are well supported in the nursery. They make the progress of which they are capable.

Parents are involved in the decision-making about their children and can request changes to specific plans when they feel that aspects of these are not suitable. They know what targets their children have and are able to support learning at home.

Staff put in place swift support to help all children be included in nursery life. Additional funding is used well to support children's needs and interests and help them be involved in the nursery routines, such as outings. In addition, external programmes that focus on developing children's speech and language skills have adults visit the nursery to provide focus on developing these skills. Resources are purchased to support children's interests and to give them a space for if they become overwhelmed. This means that staff help reduce barriers to children's learning and help all children make progress.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to practise their physical skills. Staff ensure that babies and toddlers are able to explore how their bodies move when engaging in action songs. They give them opportunities to climb and balance, and to use an indoor room specifically for physical play to practise these skills more often. Staff help older children develop their balance and coordination as they climb over tyres and lift them onto rods. Staff also take the children to visit a local nursery to make use of the physical equipment and explore nature. Staff make sure that children have plenty of opportunities to develop their hand muscle strength. They provide pipettes for squeezing water into containers and paintbrushes and drawing materials for making creations.

Overall, staff support children's language development effectively according to their ages and stages of development. Staff narrate the babies' play and provide repetition for them to develop their language and vocabulary. For example, as children pat the sand or pour water, staff reinforce words and model what they are doing. Toddlers join in with singing and enjoy looking at books, which staff read to them enthusiastically. Staff engage older children in conversations. This motivates them to recall prior learning and talk about what they are doing, such as when they explore pouring water down a pipe and making potions with different herbs and flowers. However, although staff talk to the children about what they are doing and help broaden children's vocabulary, this is not always consistent. For example, when exploring the wide range of herbs and describing how they smell, staff do not teach the names of these to extend children's learning further.

Achievement: Expected standard

Generally, all children achieve well from their varying starting points. Gaps in children's learning, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who may face barriers to their learning, close over time. Typically, children gain most of the key skills they will need for starting school. They are confident in their physical skills, such as when balancing and developing their coordination. From a young age, children practise strengthening their hand muscles, such as through filling and pouring, and through squeezing and manipulating materials.

Children show that they are interested and engaged in their learning. They enjoy joining in with action songs, music sessions and listening to stories, which supports their communication and language. They form secure relationships with adults and other children, which helps them develop their confidence for the next stage in their learning.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Staff help all children learn the rules and boundaries. They role model to help babies learn to wait their turn, and help toddlers learn to share. They demonstrate how they can do this; for example, they show children a sand timer and wait with them for the sand to flow through so that children know when it will be another child's turn. Staff teach older children how to keep themselves safe on outings. They explain that children need to wear high-visibility jackets and to hold the rings on the chain. Children know that if they need to stop for any reason, they need to shout 'stop' so that everyone can stop together.

Children benefit from established routines throughout the day. These help them know what to expect and support them to feel secure. Familiar adults care for children, and this further supports their sense of belonging, including for those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who may face barriers to their learning.

Older children play together cooperatively and show that they can share the resources and work collaboratively, such as when they make potions outdoors. Staff offer the children lots of praise and encouragement for their achievements, and also when they say 'please' and 'thank you'. However, although children sing a 'please and thank you' song daily before lunch, staff do not consistently remind them to use their manners when they forget.

Leaders monitor children's attendance carefully, and encourage good attendance by talking to parents and carers about how this aids children's settling-in and their feelings of security. This helps children establish the routines they will need for starting school.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff use various techniques to help children learn to manage their feelings and emotions. They use stories and props with children, and offer them time away in the garden or a sensory area to help them understand how they are feeling or to offer them some calm time, according to the children's individual needs.

Staff provide a range of nutritious and balanced meals for the children. Staff promote the children's independence well. Babies are encouraged to feed themselves, and toddlers pour their own drinks, drink from open cups, use cutlery for eating and put on their coats before going outside. Older children serve their own lunch, and staff promote these times as a sociable occasion. However, although staff talk to children about how their food tastes, they do not always discuss the benefits of certain foods on their bodies. This does not fully support children to make informed healthy choices about food.

Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to be outside in the fresh air and to practise their physical skills. Children demonstrate a positive attitude towards going outside and are enthusiastic to get their outdoor clothes on and go in the garden. Staff support those children who are less keen or have less experience of this, to help them feel confident. Staff place a strong focus on helping all children learn to use the potty when they are in the toddler room. This helps some children become prepared for their next stage in learning.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders have provided staff with lots of training and coaching since the last inspection. Leaders have engaged with the local authority and used their in-house training team to help staff assess children's progress more carefully and to identify next steps based on children's interests and individual needs. Staff are clearer overall on how to implement a broad curriculum for the children and how to engage parents and carers better. This means staff get to know their key children better. Leaders offer staff meetings and feedback on their practice. Leaders are also positive role models when in the rooms interacting with the children, and provide staff with ongoing professional development. This means that staff have made significant improvements to outcomes for children since the last inspection.

Staff report that they feel well supported in the nursery. Leaders celebrate their achievements, and this has a positive impact on their morale and wellbeing. Staff report that they have had many training and development opportunities that have improved their practice, and that leaders have listened to them regarding the support they need and responded positively to them.

Overall, parents report that they are happy with the improvements made at the nursery and the progress their children are making. Parents say it is positive that there is a more consistent staff team and that they know who their child's key person is. Parents receive information about their children's progress on the online app and through daily verbal discussions with staff.