Kidz Catterick

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a lovely, warm welcome when they arrive at the nursery. They eagerly go off to their playrooms with staff. Strong bonds between staff and children are highly evident. There is always time for a cuddle or for words of encouragement if children are trying to do something challenging. Staff collect a wealth of information from parents when their children start attending, such as their interests and preferred sleep arrangements. This helps to ensure that children settle as quickly as possible. Activities are planned to help new children to learn their friends' names. These measures create an atmosphere where children feel secure and valued.

Children benefit from a wide range of interesting play and learning opportunities. The rooms are designed to support children to make independent choices about what they want to do. The youngest children show considerable concentration as they try to build towers. Older children chat with each other as they use construction materials to create different models. Children are also regularly invited to join activities led by staff. Babies giggle with delight as they splash in the water tray, while starting to repeat key words from their favourite song about ducks. In the toddler room, children are encouraged to take turns as they create their own balancing beam using wooden blocks. Pre-school children concentrate as they listen to the sounds made by different musical instruments. Staff are skilled at using questions to help promote individual children's learning. For example, they ask some children to practise their counting, while others are developing their mark-making skills. This supports all children to make good progress from their starting points.

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

• Leaders and managers fully understand the needs of families in the local community. This helps them to ensure that appropriate support is given, for example at times of change in children's lives. Effective arrangements are in place to share information with other childcare providers and with schools so that any transitions are as well planned as possible. This is greatly appreciated by parents and carers.
• There is a clear, shared understanding of what staff want children to learn during their time at the nursery. This is based on a secure knowledge of the early years curriculum. Staff carry out regular assessments of their key children in order to identify whether they are reaching their developmental milestones. This information is shared with parents, together with suggestions about how they can support further learning at home.
• In the main, staff support children's communication and language development effectively. They give children time to speak and value their contributions.
• Stories and songs help develop children's speaking and listening skills. However, staff do not always use the correct vocabulary when interacting with children. This does not consistently promote children's speech and language.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is a strength of the nursery. Staff attend appropriate training in order to support children who may need additional interventions in order to make progress. They also liaise with specialists when developing individual development plans. Parents of children with SEND say their children are thriving.
• Children are given plenty of opportunities to develop their self-care skills. Staff teach children how to put on their coats, offering help until they can do this on their own. At mealtimes, babies are supported to use cutlery. Toddlers pour their own drinks. In the pre-school room, children spread jam on their toast and cut their own fruit. These skills, together with supporting children to use the toilet independently, help them to be ready to move on to school.
• Children enjoy varied and balanced meals. Special dietary needs are catered for effectively. The chef takes advantage of festivals and events to introduce children to food from different cultures. Staff hope that their project to grow a range of different vegetables will encourage children to eat even more healthily at nursery.
• Children have daily access to a secure garden. They become fully engaged as they dig in the sand or ride tricycles down the slope. There are opportunities for children to make potions in the mud kitchen and to play games like hopscotch. However, leaders recognise that the outdoor space is not as stimulating as the indoor rooms. This does not fully support children who prefer to learn outside.
• Leaders and managers have worked tirelessly to create and develop the nursery. They have built a strong and effective team. There are plenty of opportunities for staff to enhance their own skills through coaching, training and mentoring. Staff say they feel valued and able to contribute their own ideas to enhance the nursery even more.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• promote children's communication and language skills even more by ensuring staff always use the correct vocabulary
• continue to develop the outdoor area to provide further opportunities for children who prefer to learn outside.