Lighthouse Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this welcoming, family orientated nursery. They are supported to feel safe, settled and secure by the caring staff team. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are no longer allowed to enter the setting. Handovers are completed at the entrance. Staff provide lots of comfort when children become upset, offering cuddles and reassurance. This helps children to begin to feel emotionally secure and to develop close bonds with staff.

Staff provide a wide range of enjoyable activities and experiences that stimulate and intrigue children. For example, children add a wide variety of herbs and spices to the play dough to stimulate their senses. They develop their fine motor skills in preparation for early writing by using pincers to pick up the conkers in the autumn-themed heavy-duty plastic tray. Children show high levels of confidence in social situations. They enjoy socialising and engage well with their peers, including unfamiliar adults. They behave very well at the nursery. They are considerate towards each other and respond to adult's requests well. They show they know the routines of the day and listen carefully during group activities. Staff are good role models and have high expectations. They reinforce the use of manners, reminding children to say 'please' and 'thank you'.

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

• Staff encourage children to develop a love of reading. Children sit individually or in small groups with staff and listen with interest to stories. Staff skilfully point out the main characters. They use props and artefacts from different countries to support the story. This has a positive impact on young children's developing listening skills and their understanding of the world.
• Overall, leaders and staff are clear in their learning intentions. For example, children excitedly transport water from the water station to make 'potions' in the wheelbarrow to begin to understand about volume. However, at times, what is being taught is too difficult for some children and not challenging enough for others. This does not meet the learning needs of all children.
• Overall, staff extend children's communication skills effectively. They explain the meaning of new words. For example, they introduce the word 'crunch' to describe the sound the autumn leaves make as children explore them in the heavy-duty plastic tray. However, staff do not fully understand the importance of children being able to use their home languages. They do not consistently include important words in children's home languages in their practice and do not always explain the benefits of this to parents. This does not help all children to value their home languages or identity.
• Staff teach children about keeping themselves safe. They discuss risks during their play, for example the importance of trying not to spill too much water from the water tray because 'we might slip and hurt ourselves'. They complete risk assessments and ensure that children are closely supervised.
• Parents' comments about the nursery are overwhelmingly positive. They describe how much support they have received from staff. Parents receive regular updates about children's progress via daily discussions. This helps parents to further support their child's learning at home. Parent volunteers visit the nursery to read books or share their expertise with children.
• Support to families is exceptional. Leaders provide some parents with food vouchers, food packs and educational resources. Families are offered support in registering with local services, such as doctors and dentists. During the COVID- 19 pandemic, staff sought help from a local charity to provide electronic devices and educational resources to children and regularly checked on families' welfare.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well and make good progress. For example, the special educational needs coordinator ensures that any gaps in learning are addressed immediately and without delay.
• Staff have worked together for a number of years. They have created a strong and dedicated staff team that is passionate about providing the best possible start for the children and their families. Staff say they feel valued and supported, including those who are newer to the team. Professional development opportunities are targeted and focused on improving teaching skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop teaching to provide the right level of challenge for all the children's different stages of development
• build staff's understanding of the importance of using children's home languages and extend their confidence in explaining this to parents.