Manor House Day Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly welcome children as they arrive. Babies are happily carried in by staff as parents wave goodbye. The setting is safe and secure. Staff are kind and caring. Children settle quickly. They freely access resources, such as zoo animals and cars. Babies seek out staff and climb onto their laps. They quickly adapt as a song signals circle time. Babies respond to communication with expressions and body language. They squeal with joy as they wait for the crocodile from a familiar rhyme.

The setting is well connected with parents. They are invited in for stay-and-play sessions. Celebrations are relevant to the children who attend. Family photos provide opportunities for staff to talk to babies about familiar people. Children enjoy listening to stories. Staff create excitement as they change their tone. They encourage babies to feel the sensory patch on the page. The curriculum supports children's physical development. For example, babies crawl over soft blocks inside and staff encourage children to pull themselves up the climbing frame. Children carefully turn around to use the slide. They sit in sand and use spades to dig. Leaders and staff complete risk assessments to ensure the area is safe.

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

• Leaders are dedicated. They have a clear vision of expectations for the babies in their care. Their enthusiasm is passed on to staff, who create a safe and happy environment. Regular supervisions identify training needs. Staff meetings create team-building opportunities. Leaders care about staff's well-being. This has a positive impact on the setting as staff feel valued.
• Staff develop secure relationships with babies and children. They take time to get to know their personalities. Quieter children are gently drawn into group activities. Confident children freely dance as they sing. However, occasionally, staff are moved across settings to meet the qualification requirement. This has an impact on the consistency of teaching and learning.
• Staff have developed strong partnerships with parents. They create a settling-in procedure that parents appreciate. It provides parents with time to familiarise themselves with the setting and routines. Daily messages around mealtimes and nappy changing keep parents informed. Verbal updates from staff provide an insight into activities children have enjoyed. Leaders hold termly parents' meetings. These are an opportunity to share the learning and development. This provides a view for parents into their babies' world.
• Staff have created a familiar routine. They use cues throughout the day and sing rhymes before mealtimes to support babies in recognising transitions. Older children actively help to tidy up. Babies are encouraged to return toys to boxes. This supports their understanding of their day. Staff consistently praise the efforts of the babies, who respond with smiles and claps. This boosts children's self-esteem.
• Babies are supported to be independent. Children enjoy a range of healthy meals. Some children feed themselves, while staff help younger babies to eat. Staff talk to babies through their nappy change routine. They softly sing songs with the children while carrying out this activity. Staff encourage good hygiene. They encourage older children to wash their hands independently. Babies take an active role in using paper towels to dry their hands. This helps children to develop effective self-care skills.
• Staff provide a language-rich environment. They use descriptive words during play, such as soft and hard. Mathematical concepts such as big and small are used as they refer to towers. Older children repeat words they hear, such as Friday when staff name the days of the week. Babies copy actions to songs. Staff plan a varied curriculum of activities. However, on a few occasions, some planned learning activities are not age-appropriate to effectively build on and consolidate what children already know and can do.
• Leaders and staff have developed effective partnerships with professionals. They work closely with the local authority to secure additional funding. They use this to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, staff have recently attended sign language training to help support children's communication and language development. Leaders access translator services, when needed, to strengthen partnerships with families who have English as an additional language.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staffing arrangements across the setting to ensure consistent teaching
• improve oversight of the planning to enhance staff's understanding of how to implement the curriculum to meet all children's needs.