Mad Hatters Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are kind, caring and warmly greet children as they arrive. This helps them to feel safe and settled at the nursery. Staff build positive relationships with children who readily approach them if they need cuddles, comfort, or reassurance throughout the day. Children are motivated to learn because staff provide a challenging and ambitious curriculum that meets the children's individual needs. For example, babies show curiosity as they explore herbs and flowers they have picked in the garden hidden in ice. Older children work together as they use guttering pipes in the garden to build ramps which they use to launch their toy cars down.

Children behave well. Staff support children to help each other as they build a train track, and they encourage children to share the toy trains when the track is finished. Staff praise children for their good behaviours. This helps boost children's confidence and self-esteem. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress in their learning according to their starting points. They are gaining the skills they need to help prepare them for their future learning.

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

• Staff accurately observe and assess what children know and can do. They use this knowledge to plan for children's next steps in learning. Staff plan a good range of interesting and exciting activities that children readily join in with. They engage well with children as they play. This helps to extend children's enjoyment. However, sometimes the organisation when children move between routines is not managed well enough to ensure all children are able to remain focused and engaged.
• Children are provided with a range of healthy meals and snacks that are freshly prepared each day by the on-site cook. These are tailored towards children's individual dietary needs. Babies and toddlers sit in small groups and staff sit with them offering them choices about which fruit they would like for snack. However, the arrangements for older children's mealtimes are not always managed as well. Lack of space around the table impacts on children's opportunities to develop their social skills at mealtimes.
• Children's communication and language skills are promoted from an early age. Staff in the baby room read frequent stories and sing rhymes that children enjoy joining in with. Older children are confident communicators and engage in conversations and discussions with staff and visitors.
• Staff remind children of the rules of the nursery. They act as good role models to children showing respect for others and gently reminding them to say please and thank you. Children learn to share and take turns in their play. They play cooperatively with their peers from an early age.
• Children develop independence skills. Younger children are encouraged to help to put on their own shoes before going outside to play and to choose which fruit they would like at snack time. Older children are encouraged to take care of their personal needs, using the toilet independently and washing their hands afterwards. This helps children to learn to take care of themselves.
• Staff express how supported they feel in their roles. They benefit from regular supervisions and ongoing training to help them to build on their already good knowledge and skills.
• Staff support children with SEND particularly well. They have established effective partnerships with parents and other professionals involved with children's care and learning. Advice and guidance gained from these other professionals is incorporated into the plans for children's learning. Staff use simple sign language with children to further promote their understanding. This helps children to make the progress they are capable of.
• Parents speak positively about the care and education their children receive. They know who acts as their child's key person and say that they are fully informed about their child's time at the nursery. Parents say that they would recommend the nursery to other parents.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to manage transitions between activities for older children so that they are able to remain focused and engaged
• provide children with appropriate space and furniture at mealtimes to better support their developing social skills.