Magna Minors Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children and their families on arrival and sensitively support those new to the setting. Children arrive happy, settle quickly and soon feel safe and secure. Leaders and staff plan an effective curriculum for all children, focusing on their prime areas of development, to underpin their learning. They have made recent changes to the layout of the room and have already observed the benefits to the children. For example, older children are better able to listen and concentrate without the distraction of toddlers.

Staff provide good interaction, enabling children to make choices and lead their learning while embedding their knowledge. For example, as children persevere with dressing a doll, staff help them to name parts of the body. They revisit activities to help children remember more. For example, when studying faces, older children recall being told that hair on a lip is called a moustache.

Children have positive attitudes to learning and explore the resources with enthusiasm. For example, staff help toddlers to discover different ways to transport water, such as scoops, beakers and even sponges. They role model good mathematical language, such as 'full' and 'empty', and help them to understand about capacity while having fun playing. Older children demonstrate their delight at their achievements, such as when they learn to spin and roll hoops.

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

• Staff monitor children's development effectively. Leaders have a good overview to quickly identify any gaps and ensure that children receive the help they need to catch up with their peers. Staff use their observations well to identify what children can already do and what they need to focus on next. For example, babies are helped to strengthen their legs ready for walking, and children learning English as an additional language gain confidence in speaking.
• Staff promote all children's language skills effectively. They respond to babies babbling and add vocabulary to toddlers' comments. For example, as they mix their 'potions', they learn the difference between a spatula and a spoon, as well as the names of shapes, such as 'spirals'. All children enjoy singing and stories, and older children engage in good discussions, learning to listen to others and take turns speaking.
• Children are confident to appropriately express their ideas, and staff listen and respond well to them. For example, when taking part in an activity to look at their similarities and differences and paint a self-portrait, staff notice children's fascination with mixing colours and extend this further.
• Overall, staff support children well in understanding their expectations. Staff consistently manage children's behaviour, speaking kindly and offering alternatives when minor arguments arise. However, they do not always help children to acknowledge their emotions and consider how others feel, or help older children to resolve conflict for themselves.
• Staff support children well in taking care of their personal needs, developing good hygiene practices and understanding the importance of oral health. Children gain independence as they access tissues and wipe their nose. They help themselves to fresh drinking water and have daily opportunities to be outdoors and enjoy exercise.
• Staff provide good support to help children develop the skills they need to become independent. For example, young children put their arms into the sleeves of their coats, and older children follow instructions well. Staff help them to recall what they need to do until they can manage their shoes and coat for themselves.
• Successful partnerships with parents enable staff to seek important information to get to know the children well. Staff share daily information with parents on their children's care and the activities. Parents have opportunities each term to receive a full report on their child's development and next stages of learning. However, they are not consistently informed when these change, to better support learning at home.
• The provider regularly evaluates their practice, working closely with the staff team. They are currently focusing on improving children's opportunities to have more outings and learn in their community. Unqualified staff receive good support to gain qualifications and develop their knowledge and skills. Staff work well as a team, providing effective supervision and support and meeting children's needs successfully.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus staff development on extending ways to help children understand and manage their own feelings and on supporting older children to manage conflict for themselves
• extend the partnerships with parents to inform them of their children's next stages of development as they change, to support learning at home even more effectively.