Kido Camden

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy coming to this nursery. Staff greet them warmly at the door each morning. Staff and parents have strong relationships. Staff take the time to talk to each parent when children arrive. This means that the transition between home and nursery is easy for children.

Children enjoy the wide range of interesting and exciting opportunities on offer to them. They benefit from the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) focus at the nursery. Children take part in many experiments and develop problem-solving skills. They have opportunities to communicate with other children around the world and celebrate festivals such as Chinese New Year with them. Children begin to learn Mandarin, Italian and Spanish. This helps them to develop their understanding of life in other countries.

Leaders have high expectations of each child. They ensure that staff support each child's individual needs well. Children speak a rich variety of languages. Staff support children well by communicating with them in their home language where appropriate, and support them to learn English. Children behave well, showing that they feel safe and secure. Staff teach them to develop their self-care skills. For instance, staff teach pre-school children to 'saw' with the knife and 'scoop' with the fork.

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

• Staff have clear expectations of the communication and language skills they would like children to learn. They use a rich range of vocabulary with the children. This means that by the time children leave the setting, they are able to communicate well. For instance, during a science experiment, pre-school children used words such as 'absorb', 'volcano' and 'lava'. Children and staff enjoy singing songs and looking at books together to support children's language development.
• Staff think carefully about how to support children in developing their physical development. Babies crawl, cruise around furniture and begin to walk. Toddlers throw and kick balls, ride bikes, travel over the bridge and water plants. Pre-schoolers learn how to balance on a beam and jump between hoops. They throw a ball using over arm throws, under arm throws and chest passes. Children make the most of the many opportunities for mark making, manipulating small items and threading. This enables them to develop their fine motor skills.
• Each staff member takes responsibility for planning learning activities for a group of children. They are able to explain what each child is able to do and what they need to do next. Staff use this knowledge to plan activities which support children to make progress. For instance, a member of staff observed that a child could only count up to four items. They then worked with the child to count out five beads several times, until the child could do this independently.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well through partnership work with external agencies and professionals. Staff work hard to secure additional funding or support for children where necessary. This is then used effectively to help children to achieve their individual targets and make progress.
• Partnership with parents is strong. The manager has built good lines of two-way communication. Parents are invited to participate in regular parent partnership meetings, in which they offer feedback about the nursery. Staff make effective use of an app to communicate information about children's care and progress in their learning. Parents and staff work together to improve the nursery. For example, a group of parents are currently supporting in transforming the garden area.
• The manager has a strong focus on staff well-being. The staff feel comfortable to approach managers about any problems or concerns. This is due to the effective systems such as weekly staff coffee mornings and regular one-to-one meetings between the manager and staff. Staff successes are celebrated. This builds a supportive atmosphere where staff enjoy coming to work. Children benefit from this as staff usually work well as a team to support each child's needs.
• Toddlers are beginning to communicate their emotions and this has been supported by engaging in the book 'Colour Monster'. However, at times they do not yet have the language to express their needs. This can be frustrating for them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop systems which support toddlers to communicate their needs.