Kids Planet The Triangle

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children separate from their parents and settle quickly to play in the welcoming environment. They show that they are happy at the nursery. Children of all ages confidently move around their rooms, making decisions about what they want to do. Older children enthusiastically take part in experimenting with water outside, guessing what sized balls will go down the slope the fastest. Babies smile at staff who talk to them and babble back in response.

All children access a large, well-maintained garden. They enjoy balancing on beams and making pretend cakes in the mud kitchen outside. Children behave well. They respond well to the positive methods used by staff. They learn to be kind to each other, wait and take turns. For example, when older children use bicycles outside, they take turns and help each other around the garden. Staff support children with their emotional well-being effectively. For example, young children engage as staff talk to them enthusiastically. Older children express their confidence as they ask questions and speak to staff.

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

• The new manager and senior team have a clear vision for the nursery. They evaluate all aspects of the nursery thoroughly and set precise goals for improvement. For example, they are currently working rapidly on strategies to communicate with parents and hear their views for continued improvement. Staff find out about children's interests and what they need to learn next from parents when children start the nursery. This helps children settle quickly into nursery life.
• Children develop a fondness for reading. Staff skilfully bring books to life as they read with enthusiasm, changing the tone of their voice to draw children into the story. They send home books to further ignite children's interest in books and promote their love of reading at home.
• Staff benefit from regular supervision meetings, where they can discuss their key children, their general well-being and professional development. The manager is reflective of her own and her staff's practice. She monitors staff through observations and uses this to help identify any specific training that staff might benefit from. This helps them to raise the quality of the provision.
• Staff observe and assess children's development. They get to know children very well and know their individual likes and dislikes. Overall, they plan activities well. For example, they introduce children to experiences such as sensory activities and cause and effect opportunities. Although children enjoy staff's interactions, staff do not consistently challenge children's learning to build on what they know and can already do.
• Staff support communication and language development well throughout the nursery. They sing with babies and encourage them to join in their favourite songs. Toddlers have good language modelled to them and learn the correct pronunciation of words. Pre-school children have opportunities for more in-depth discussions and learn to describe things themselves. These skills support children to be prepared for their move on to school.
• Managers have high aspirations for children and staff. Children have access to a stimulating and well-resourced environment. However, children's play is, at times, interrupted by routine tasks. Children are not then consistently able to engage in deep concentration.
• All children make good progress from their individual starting points. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively by their knowledgeable key persons. Staff work in partnership with other professionals to share information about children's development to help them make good progress. Children's learning is monitored, and staff act very quickly to put a targeted programme of support in place so that children catch up swiftly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff to challenge and extend children's learning to help them to achieve as much as they can
• review the structure and routines of the day to allow children time to consolidate and deepen their knowledge through uninterrupted play.