Little Rainbow Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and excited to attend this friendly nursery. They receive a warm welcome from staff and confidently say goodbye to their parents and carers. Staff and parents exchange information, which enables staff to support children's well-being throughout the day. The nursery has an effective key-person system. This helps children to build strong attachments, settle quickly and feel safe and secure.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children and provide a sequenced curriculum. They build on children's skills and previous experiences across the areas of learning. Staff engage with children as they play and facilitate their learning. For example, they encourage babies to roll and stretch dough to develop their fine motor skills. Staff support toddlers to extend their counting and concept of size as they look at features on bugs and insects. Older children learn about trees and recreate their own. They use natural resources and confidently tell the inspector what they are learning.

Staff role model the behaviour they expect from children. They use praise and encouragement, which raises children's self-esteem. Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings and emotions and use language to make their needs known. This helps children to extend their social skills and develop an understanding of their peers. Children behave well.

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

• Staff gather detailed information from parents at the beginning. This helps them to build on children's interests and plan activities to extend their knowledge and skills. Staff use observations and monitor children's progress. This helps them to identify any gaps in children's learning and quickly address them. All children make good progress from their starting points in development.
• Staff place a high priority on children's communication and language. In the baby room, staff encouraging babbling, use signs and repeat words to extend children's communication skills. Older children learn new vocabulary through singing, sharing stories and conversations. Staff support children effectively to share their views and extend their sentences.
• Overall, partnerships with parents work well. Parents state that their children are happy to attend and have settled well. They acknowledge that their children have extended their language and social skills since attending the nursery. Staff share updates with parents about their children's progress and next steps in learning. However, they do not consistently share ideas to continue children's learning at home or seek parents' feedback.
• Leaders and staff embed a culture of diversity and inclusion through the nursery's ethos, staff team, parents and the curriculum. Children learn about other cultures and religions through celebrations, stories, food and activities. Staff teach children about the wider world, similarities and differences and what makes them unique. They support children who speak English as an additional language, alongside learning English.
• Children benefit from a range of physical activities to develop their large muscles. Babies crawl in the ball pool and use the slide. Older children practise riding bicycles, jump in hoops and balance on tyres. Staff provide healthy snacks and meals and teach children about healthy eating. Children follow good hygiene routines and learn about the importance of oral health.
• Staff engage with children as they play. They support children to count, recognise different sizes and name shapes as they build. This extends children's mathematical skills. Staff provide a commentary, give demonstrations and ask meaningful questions. However, staff do not consistently extend children's thinking or always encourage them to problem-solve for themselves.
• Staff promote children's independence well. They encourage children to take off their coats and wash their hands. Children develop a sense of responsibility and know the routine well. They help with tasks, such as setting the table and tidying away after playing, which builds their confidence. Staff work collaboratively and deploy themselves to ensure that children are supervised as they move between spaces in the nursery.
• Leaders have robust recruitment procedures and provide regular supervision sessions for all staff. Leaders monitor practice and provide feedback. Staff evaluate and reflect on their practice and work towards targets to help to make improvements. Staff add to their knowledge through continued professional development. Leaders and staff have addressed previous recommendations and made changes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend partnerships with parents to ensure consistency in sharing ideas to continue children's learning at home and seek their views to help make further improvements
• strengthen staff's interactions during activities to challenge children's thinking and problem-solving skills.