Maggie's Day Nursery Eastbourne

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders have recently made changes to the daily routines, staff deployment and curriculum to help improve children's learning and experiences. Children receive good attention and support from dedicated staff who plan interesting and stimulating activities. Staff use consistent and effective strategies to support children's learning, including those children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children gain the skills they need in the way they learn best.

Children appear happy, independent and safe. Staff set high expectations for children's behaviour and manners, and children enjoy spending time with staff. Children confidently go to staff for help and comfort, and to initiate new play. For instance, when children move from one activity to another, staff help them to settle and engage.

Staff interactions with children are meaningful. They use children's interests to start new conversations and make discoveries, or to demonstrate new ideas. For instance, children learn the names of bugs they find when they dig in the garden. Children happily speak with staff about their own fascinations and plans.

Staff broaden children's knowledge and understanding of their community, such as when they visit the library and the beach. Children enjoy these new experiences and gain a greater understanding of the world around them. Children make links with their own experiences and learn about new possibilities and interests to enhance their learning in the future.

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

• Leaders value the staff team. They work hard to ensure staff receive the support they need to build on children's learning experiences in the nursery. All staff say they feel happy and that their well-being is high. Leaders develop staff skills and knowledge during individual meetings and provide targeted professional development opportunities to improve teaching.
• Staff know what they want children to learn and are good at adapting teaching to suit the needs of children, including those with SEND, while they play. They observe and assess children's learning and development, and plan meaningful and interesting activities. However, leaders' intent for the curriculum is not yet fully embedded. The leaders' ideas about how they want staff to develop children's skills and knowledge over time are still to be fully understood by all staff.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They provide visual cue cards to help children understand changes to the routine and to follow simple instructions. They listen to what children say and encourage them to use new words. Children develop confidence to speak and make their needs known.
• Children love listening to staff who sing and read them stories. Staff provide opportunities for parents to share stories with their children, such as when they borrow story sacks to take home. Children bring in their favourite book from home to share with their friends. This helps begin a life-long love of books for the children and their families.
• Children build good relationships with one another and with the friendly staff. They develop their independence skills and self-confidence. Staff are good at waiting to see when children need support before stepping in. For example, children try different ways to put a jigsaw puzzle together, persevering and succeeding with minimal help.
• Staff follow children's routines from home to provide continuity and reassurance. For instance, they support potty training in a familiar way. Staff provide healthy routines and lifestyles, such as when they provide fresh snacks and meals and encourage children to try new foods.
• Children develop good physical skills. Staff provide children with resources, encouragement and challenge. For instance, children develop their strength, coordination, balance and spatial awareness when they ride around the garden on scooters. They develop their smaller hand muscles when they use stickers and glue to decorate pictures.
• Staff use information from parents to learn about children's development and preferences. Children are allocated a key person to support their learning and development. Sometimes when staff are absent or when children are new to the nursery, there is lack of consistency in providing another person to support their care and learning.
• Staff help children to express themselves and make choices, and to develop their self-awareness and self-esteem. Children's unique personalities are valued and their interests encouraged, by caring and nurturing staff. Children develop self-confidence and skills to support their future learning, such as when they go to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the curriculum intent with staff to help them further extend and build children's skills and knowledge
• strengthen the key-person system to maintain consistency in children's care and development.