Kinderview Children's Nursery Marple

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show that they feel happy and secure when they arrive at nursery and are greeted by friendly, familiar staff. Staff plan activities that promote children's creativity and physical development. Toddlers draw freely on a giant piece of paper that is fastened to the floor. Pre-school children learn about outer space, then design and make little models of planets. These activities help children to develop strength and dexterity in their hands and fingers. Staff talk about and praise children's work. This helps to promote children's self-esteem. They become confident about expressing their knowledge and ideas in different ways.

Staff demonstrate a good understanding of how children learn. This helps them to establish daily routines that are matched appropriately to children's age and stage of development. Babies hear the 'sit-down song' and know that it is time to gather together. Toddlers collect individual cushions for group time. When group time ends, they return the cushions to the basket before going to play. Pre-school children know that when they hear the hand bell, they must stop to listen to staff. The well-taught routines promote children's self-control. They help to prepare children for starting school and to follow rules that promote social harmony.

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

• The provider demonstrates ambition for the achievement of every child and member of staff. Managers and staff feel encouraged and supported to extend their qualifications and progress their careers. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress in their learning and development.
• The manager has well-organised records of the coaching and supervision of staff. Leaders and managers observe teaching and provide staff with individual feedback. However, on occasion, targets set for staff's individual improvement do not help them to understand what they need to improve and how quickly improvement is needed. This may slow staff's progress towards achieving the highest quality of teaching for children.
• Staff promote children's communication and language effectively. They talk and sing with children. This helps children to acquire the patterns and rhythm of spoken language. Staff help children to extend the vocabulary that they know and use. This helps to lay firm foundations for children's future learning.
• Staff often use props effectively in their teaching. Toddlers give rapt attention to Larry Lion's response at the start of group time. They discover that he likes their quiet indoor voices more than their loud ones. The short, playful interaction leaves toddlers alert and ready to listen. Staff in the baby room use props during song time. For example, if the song is about a monkey, they show babies a toy monkey. This helps babies to link words with objects.
• Staff know children well and know what they want them to learn. This helps to promote ongoing dialogue that enhances children's experiences and extends their thinking. However, sometimes during adult-led activities, staff do not have a clear view of what they want individual children to learn from the activity. This makes it more difficult for them to assess what children have learned as a result of taking part.
• Children demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. This is particularly evident during child-initiated play in the pre-school room. Children concentrate really hard as they build tall towers with different construction sets. They make visible progress in finding out which towers stay up and which fall down. Children work together to agree storylines for complex role play. This promotes their ability to listen to and value each other's ideas.
• Staff understand how children learn to read. They make sure that books are plentiful and accessible. They plan book-led themes that promote children's deeper engagement with the events in a chosen story. Staff teach children to listen carefully to all of the sounds around them. This readies children to identify the sequence of sounds in spoken words.
• Parents and carers feel involved and consulted by the nursery team. Everyone works together when children move from one room to the next. This helps children to settle quickly and to continue learning. Staff make effective use of photos that parents upload to the online learning journal. The photos stimulate meaningful conversations about people and events at home. Parents say that staff follow children's healthcare and dietary plans meticulously. This helps to promote children's health and safety.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve how information gained from observations of teaching is used to support staff with specific information on what they need to improve and how swiftly improvement is needed
• help staff to clearly identify what they intend individual children to learn from adult-led activities to help them to assess children's progress as a result of taking part.