Knutsford Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This is a safe and welcoming setting. Notably, children thrive in their emotional and social development. Children are happy and are often heard giggling and laughing as they enthusiastically play. Children make firm friendships with each other. Parents say that their children often talk about 'special nursery friends' at home, illustrating children's enjoyment during their time spent in the nursery. Children often invite friends to join in their games. They share toys and work through problems, showing respect and tolerance. Staff teach children about empathy and kindness. For instance, staff read books about emotions and talk to children about feelings. A nursery bear is used to reinforce emotional well-being as children build positive attachments. Children are happy and behave very well.

Older children know how to join in conversations. They speak clearly and use well-structured sentences. Children respond with insightful and interesting opinions and ideas as they engage in two-way discussions. For instance, at a 'talk and draw' table, children draw their much-loved family members and discuss their familiar home life. Staff weave conversation and discussion into all aspects of play, and children become confident communicators. There are simple adaptations throughout the nursery to enable children to thrive in all stages of their learning. Babies enjoy a highly enabling environment. For instance, all toys are easily accessible for those youngest children who are not yet confident to move.

Children show a love for books. They hunt for their favourite stories from a wide selection on offer. Children handle books and turn pages with confidence. They look closely and carefully at illustrations and point to pictures to label what they see. Children giggle as they lift flaps in interactive books and shout what they find underneath. Furthermore, children are encouraged to take books home from a nursery lending library and continue to develop their good literacy skills. Staff lead interesting activities outside. For instance, children enjoy holding hands and playing a team game in the outdoor garden. Each week a visiting football teacher helps to enhance children's opportunities to be physically active. Children benefit from fresh air and exercise every day, contributing to their good health.

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

• Managers have worked at pace and with dedication to address weaknesses raised at the last inspection. There has been a truly collective approach to change, and all staff members have been involved in decisions about improvement. This team effort has resulted in change being well understood and thus embedded quickly. Changes have significantly improved the quality of the provision.
• Staff attend extensive amounts of training to build their skills and knowledge.
• Training plans are based on staff's individual learning needs, and there is a tremendous focus on professional development. Recent abundant training has had a significant impact on staff morale, confidence and daily practice.
• Staff knowledge of their safeguarding responsibilities is secure, including wider safeguarding areas such as whistle-blowing and allegations. Safeguarding is given high priority. To illustrate, staff attend both online and in-person training on this important topic to fully consolidate their knowledge. Managers monitor staff's safeguarding skills through daily spot check quizzes and written questionnaires. Safeguarding is at the fore of staff practice, and children play and learn in a safe space.
• Managers have completely redesigned and simplified the curriculum. Systems for assessment and planning have also been successfully streamlined. The curriculum is designed with an underpinning vision that children are 'happy, safe and making progress'. Staff understand this vision and implement the new curriculum with enthusiasm because they recognise the benefits it offers. Staff understand what children know and need to learn next. The curriculum is well-sequenced, broad and balanced.
• Children enjoy a nutritious and varied menu. They have good appetites and often ask for more, illustrating their positive attitude to healthy eating. Mealtimes are a social occasion, and children sit together and enjoy the company of their peers, establishing social awareness and strengthening friendships. Staff understand children's different dietary needs and carefully monitor this during food service. For instance, they attentively sit nearby those children with individual meal plans to help to keep them safe when eating.
• Managers work closely with parents and have fostered positive relationships with home. They value parental comments and feedback and implement these views into the setting action plan. Systems to seek and act upon both compliments and complaints are established and effective.
• Children enjoy close and trusting relationships with warm and affectionate staff. Staff care deeply for children's emotional and physical welfare. They soothe babies to sleep when tired and change nappies in a gentle and caring way. Intimate care routines, such as nappy changes, are completed timely with a respectful and considerate approach.
• Managers meet with staff, creating an opportunity for professional coaching and monitoring. During these supervision meetings, they discuss key issues and aspirations for training and development. Staff comment that they feel valued and enjoy working at the nursery. This job satisfaction creates a staff team who are motivated and strive to do their best. However, managers do not often observe staff and provide regular feedback on their daily practice to help them to improve their day-to-day teaching.
• Staff plan activities that interest, engage and challenge children. Children complete difficult jigsaws and confidently solve tough problems, showing impressive concentration and resilience. Staff have high expectations of children and frequently challenge them to extend skills. However, sometimes, children's mistakes are not quickly corrected to ensure misconceptions are addressed. For instance, when children incorrectly name triangle and circle shapes, this is not quickly addressed to support accurate knowledge development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen systems to observe staff and provide regular feedback on their daily practice to create a culture reflection and continual improvement
• ensure that children's misconceptions are quickly corrected to help to support their correct and accurate knowledge development.