Macclesfield Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders have an incredibly positive attitude. They have worked tirelessly since their last inspection to bring about positive change for children. Leaders have placed a real emphasis on staff training and the effectiveness of this. Staff have engaged in a variety of learning opportunities to improve their practice. This has had an incredibly positive impact on the learning experiences that staff plan for children. Children arrive at the nursery eager to enter. During the morning, staff plan learning experiences that really capture children's interests and ignite their curiosity. Children have great fun exploring with paints. They use different materials to paint with and start to learn how to express themselves creatively and use their imaginations.

Staff are deployed incredibly well throughout this nursery. Children are always well supervised. Staff support children's learning through planning well-thought-out activities that help children to reach their next steps in learning. In the main, children are involved in activities which help to keep them focused and develop good levels of concentration and participation. Children learn to play alongside and with their peers. This helps them to learn the importance of sharing and taking turns. Children also develop an understanding of how to take responsibility for their environment as they actively help to tidy up after activities.

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

• The manager has worked hard since the last inspection to design an ambitious curriculum to support children to make consistently good levels of progress in their learning. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of how young children learn. This helps them to effectively implement the curriculum and support children to securely reach their learning goals.
• The manager has targeted staff professional development and training on improving the outcomes for children. There has been a real emphasis on improving the implementation of the curriculum to ensure that children are ready for their next stage in learning. Children develop a positive attitude towards their learning with the sensitive help of nurturing staff.
• Staff get to know children well from the very start. They do this by gathering important information from parents about their children. Staff plan the provision to ensure that the environment is exciting and enticing for children. They then weave in children's individual next steps in learning to enhance the experiences for children and extend their learning.
• Staff sequence children's learning to ensure that they are cumulatively and continuously building on what they already know and can do. This helps to securely embed children's learning. Occasionally, there are some inconsistencies in the learning experiences available to children in the afternoon, particularly for younger children. This impacts children's levels of engagement and some children get frustrated with each other.
• The curriculum for communication and language is a real strength. All staff hold quality back-and-forth conversations with children to promote their emerging and growing vocabulary. Staff interact with children and enhance their speech and language development through modelling and repeating words to children. Older children engage in thoughtful discussions with each other during their play.
• Staff have embedded secure systems to support children to manage their behaviour. They get down to the children's level and talk to them about why certain behaviours are not acceptable. This helps children to understand how their actions impact others. Staff work with children to support them to understand their emotions and find healthy ways to express these. This helps children to self-regulate and resolve some conflicts themselves.
• There is a special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) in place. She is knowledgeable and passionate about her role. The SENCo supports staff to ensure that they can meet the individual needs of all children. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress in this nursery. Leaders and staff have strong relationships with parents and other professionals. This ensures consistency in all children's learning experiences.
• Leaders and staff ensure that they build positive relationships with parents from the start. They develop secure methods of communication, which keep parents up to date with what their children are learning in nursery. Staff share with parents children's next steps in learning. This supports parents to continue children's learning outside of the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to support staff through training and professional development to effectively implement the curriculum at all times to help children remain engaged in their learning.