Little Robins Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy and settle well in this nursery. Staff are warm and welcoming as they talk with parents and children when they arrive. Babies quickly relax and enjoy favourite activities which have been thoughtfully provided by their key person. They enjoy cuddles and nurturing relationships with familiar adults. Toddlers arrive confidently and play with the enticing activities on offer alongside caring staff.

Children's love of reading and books is nurtured from a very young age. They enjoy a favourite story, 'Dear Zoo', as babies sit together with staff at story time in the cosy book corner. They are completely focused and really listen to the story, as staff use intonation, actions and facial expressions to ensure babies are engaged. They copy staff as they have a go at making the animal sounds, and this helps support children's development of communication and language development. After story time, one baby stays in the cosy corner and looks at the book, quietly retelling the story and flicking the pages of the 'Dear Zoo' board book.

Toddlers' sensory development is supported through a well-planned and interesting environment. They comment with excitement 'It's cold, it's cold, it's cold!!' as they put their hands in the frozen peas. They look closely at what happens when they mix frozen sweetcorn and peas together. They confidently fill small containers using various-sized scoops. They mash the peas with mashers and notice that they change shape. Staff reinforce this by commenting, 'the peas are squashed!'

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

• Leaders have a clear vision and ambitious aims for the children attending this nursery. They are passionate about what they want to achieve for the children in their care. Ongoing reflections on the effectiveness of the provision help leaders to highlight areas of development. Furthermore, they look at what works well and strive for improvement. For example, leaders are finalising their own curriculum, designed to suit the needs of children and staff in this nursery.
• Leaders have a strong overview of their curriculum for children. They make sure that it is coherently planned and effectively builds on skills over time. There is a very clear focus on the prime areas of development, and this is understood by all staff. As a result, children are prepared for the next stage in their learning as they move from the baby room through to the toddler room.
• Staff have a deep knowledge and understanding of child development and how children learn. They reflect and use this knowledge and this helps them know the children very well. They consider the individual needs of the child and use this information to help them to highlight next steps in learning. With this information in mind, they plan exciting and motivating activities that hold children's interests and motivate them. As a result, staff are very clear about their focus for the wide range of activities available for children.
• Leaders and staff nurture strong partnerships with parents. Parents say they are very happy with the care and education at this nursery. They are provided with a wide range of information about their children's development and about what children like doing at the nursery. They have daily opportunities to talk with staff, and benefit from regular parents' evenings as well as stay-and-play sessions. Staff put together home-learning packs to support learning at home.
• Leaders and managers support staff well and are aware of their well-being. They provide regular opportunities through supervision and appraisal so that staff can talk about practice and to highlight areas for development.
• Staff access a good range of training and professional development so that they can develop their teaching skills. There is scope to build on staffs understanding of the variety of teaching skills to support development even more, for example through better use of commenting as children play and through a range of open-ended questioning.
• Communication and language development is a priority for all children, including those children with English as an additional language. Staff speak a range of languages which helps them communicate with families. This helps them meet the needs of all children. Staff use intervention and quality interactions to support progress. However, babies and toddlers do not always have enough time to listen carefully and respond as staff interact and chat with them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's teaching skills to support children's language even more, for example through commenting and describing
• support staff to give babies and toddlers time to listen and respond in conversations ,to develop early listening and language skills even more.