Magic Roundabout Nurseries Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy. Staff work closely with parents when children first start, to ensure that they become settled and feel secure during their time at the nursery. Staff build strong relationships with parents and children and work closely with them to gather information about children's individual needs and routines. Children benefit from a good continuity of care from home, which supports children's emotional development well. The learning environments are attractive and stimulating. They engage children well and motivate them to play and learn.

All children make good progress in all areas of their development. Staff support children's learning well and implement a well-planned-out curriculum to ensure that all children can reach their potential. Children are confident in exploring both the indoor and outdoor environments, and they demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. Children benefit from lots of fresh air and staff place high emphasis on the outdoor provision to ensure that a broad curriculum is always delivered, especially for those children who prefer to learn outdoors.

Staff consistently reinforce and promote good behaviour and explain to children why the rules and boundaries are in place. Staff are good role models to children and help them manage their feelings and learn how to socialise positively with others. Children develop good independence skills. This enables them to develop the independence skills required for their futures, and children participate well in self-care routines.

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

• Staff carefully plan for children's learning and development. They continuously observe children and make assessments while interacting with children as they play. They use their knowledge of what children know, and can do, to respond in the moment as well as setting out what they want children to learn next. They provide opportunities for children to extend and consolidate their learning well.
• Staff give children lots of opportunities to enhance their physical development. For example, they place furniture purposefully for babies to have places to pull themselves up and cruise. Toddlers regularly climb stairs, and older children are encouraged to use loose materials to create obstacle courses for them to balance on, climb upon and practise their large motor skills.
• Staff plan a wide range of creative play activities for children which they fully immerse themselves in. For example, they introduce children to different forms of art and design, such as photography, woodwork, large-scale mark making and junk modelling. This sparks children's creativity and imaginations.
• Although staff plan experiences that allow children to take some risks safely under their supervision, at times, staff do not give children enough opportunities to solve problems for themselves and assess their own risk. For example, at times, some staff do not take account of children's capabilities and can intervene too quickly when children encounter challenges. Also, staff can be over cautious, such as removing items children are exploring even when they pose little risk.
• Staff's interactions with children are good and they promote children's communication and language development well. However, at times, staff ask children questions and present lots of information in quick succession. Children are not provided with enough time to think and respond. This limits children's opportunities to think and share their thoughts and ideas.
• Leaders plan regular parent events, such as monthly story time and parent meetings. They support parents to contribute at home to what their children are learning.
• Staff celebrate the diversity in the setting. For example, they plan opportunities for children to explore a range of multicultural festivals throughout the year and learn about one another's home language and cultural background to raise children's awareness of diversity.
• Staff and leaders attend regular child protection and safeguarding training and have good awareness of their safeguarding responsibilities. Leaders undertake robust recruitment and supervision to ensure that staff are suitable for their role. Effective policies and procedures are in place and implemented well.
• Staff access regular opportunities for training and professional development which is tailored to their needs and builds on their expertise. For example, recent training and ongoing networking for working with babies and toddlers has helped staff to explore the unique care and development needs of the youngest children. They use these networking opportunities to share good practice well.
• Leaders carry out robust self-evaluation that considers the views of children, parents, staff and early years professionals. It is accurate and drives continual improvements, which has a positive impact on the outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff knowledge of how to help children to challenge themselves, to assist them in solving their own problems and to further enhance their resilience and independence
• allow children time to think and respond during group conversations and when questioned, to develop their thinking and speaking skills.