Magical Moments Day Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to arrive at this welcoming nursery and show that they feel safe and secure. They give parents a wave and smile to say goodbye and are greeted by warm and friendly staff. Children in the baby room show excitement to explore when they splash in water, laughing with their peers. Children in the pre-school room explore nature when they go with staff into woodland areas. They work as a team to collect sticks and use them to make pretend fairy houses. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported to have a sense of belonging in the nursery. For example, they hear staff using English and words in their home language.

Children in the pre-school room benefit from staff's support to extend their imagination. For instance, they receive 'magic glitter' in their hands and are told that this gives them the ability to ride on a flying carpet. Children develop a love of books and are encouraged to take part in the story telling. For example, they stretch their arms and pretend to snore when they listen to a story about sleeping. In the baby room, children are encouraged to have a positive attitude to solving problems. For example, they help staff to fit a broken roof on a toy building and receive praise for their help, promoting positive behaviour.

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

• The manager and staff focus their curriculum on supporting children's communication and language skills. This is to help close gaps in some children's learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff attend training courses that help to extend their knowledge of how to provide communication friendly spaces for children. This includes offering children toys that encourage them to talk about favourite characters in familiar stories. Staff in the baby room sing nursery rhymes with children during group times.
• The manager and staff reflect on the experiences children receive in the nursery. They make changes to improve outcomes for children. For example, staff in the baby room recognise that children want to climb, so they provide them with a soft play climbing equipment. Children develop the strength in their bodies when they climb steps and go down slides.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well by staff. Additional funding is used to provide them with one-to-one interactions with staff to meet their individual needs. Plans are put in place to help children progress, such as to develop their interactions with others.
• Staff share information with parents about their children's care and learning. Parents talk positively about staff and say that they provide a nice atmosphere, are friendly and are interested in the children. They say that their children love to attend and they have a smile on their face when they arrive.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to build on the experiences they receive at home. For example, they take children in the pre-school room to a local community garden. Children have opportunities to plant and grow seeds and to learn how food grows. However, when staff take children who do not walk outdoors, there are limited opportunities to support their learning. They watch their peers and use gestures that suggests they want to join their play.
• Staff encourage all children to share. For example, in the baby room, children are asked to pass toys to their peers. Children in the pre-school room are asked to wait their turn to ride on tricycles in the garden. Children are given gentle reminders to use good manners, such as when they ask for more potato at lunch time.
• The manager and staff support children's oral health well. For instance, they provide parents with information about how to access local dentists for their children. When children first start attending, they receive a toothbrush and toothpaste to encourage teeth cleaning at home.
• Staff provide games for children to play to help develop their listening skills. Children listen to the sounds of different animals, birds and insects, and match the sounds they hear to images they see. However, occasionally staff do not minimise distractions for children who join adult-led activities. This would help children to remain focused.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to plan further opportunities for children who do not walk, to follow their interests and to develop their learning outdoors
• help staff to minimise distractions during adult-led activities to encourage children to focus.