Maple House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The ethos to engage children in fun learning is truly embedded across this setting. Staff greet children with smiles as they arrive. Children happily engage in meaningful conversations with staff. They cannot contain their excitement as they tell staff about the learning that they have completed at home. A strong sense of togetherness is evident in this nurturing setting. Children's eagerness to explore is obvious. Staff morale is high. They work together to create an engaging environment where children can thrive. Staff are good role models. They provide children with clear expectations for their behaviour. Children know how to act and consistently demonstrate excellent behaviour. They share toys and help each other complete tasks. Children are respectful and courteous towards one another. Children develop positive friendships.

Staff provide children with an ambitious curriculum. For example, they provide light tables for children to examine leaves they have collected. Children enjoy these experiences and show good communication skills while they describe the texture as 'crunchy' and 'soggy'. Staff promote children's individuality and creativity exceptionally well. Children relish painting and making models. They love enacting stories and delight in using funny voices. Staff encourage children to immerse themselves in activities, adding resources to help children learn more. Staff encourage children to develop their personal skills from a young age. For instance, children learn how to tend to their own physical needs. Children demonstrate high levels of independence at lunchtime. For example, children as young as two years old serve their own food and scrape their plates. Children develop the necessary skills in readiness for their next steps in learning, including their move on to school.

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

• The setting has designed an ambitious curriculum that meets children's individual learning needs. Staff provide children with a broad range of learning experiences. Children show positive attitudes towards their learning and get off to a flying start in their early education.
• The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is excellent. Staff understand the challenges that children may face. They ensure that children get the support that they need to learn well. This helps to swiftly narrow gaps in learning and enables all children to flourish.
• The setting supports children to develop a deep understanding about similarities and differences between themselves and others. Children are proud of who they are and their unique backgrounds. They learn about cultures, festivals and celebrations that are important to themselves and others. Children enjoy food and participate in dance and music sessions when learning about cultural events. They talk about what makes them unique and discuss the differences.
• Staff report that the setting gives their well-being high priority and ensures that their workload is manageable. The setting has effective systems in place for staff training, coaching and support. However, occasionally, there are some activities that are not planned to fully support children to develop skills based on what they already know and can do. At these times, the feedback given to staff does not always precisely focus on helping staff to further enhance their practice.
• The setting prioritises supporting children's communication and language development. Staff generally respond well to children's communication needs. Babies babble with delight while staff sing to them. Toddlers learn new words and pre-school children enjoy retelling stories. However, at times, some staff do not promote high quality interactions with children. For example, they do not always give children time to respond to their questions. This means that sometimes children do not fully engage in back-and-forth conversations to develop their communication skills.
• The setting uses additional funding to ensure that disadvantaged children have access to a range of activities they may not otherwise experience, such as visiting pumpkin farms for days out. Children have access to any additional help that they need. Leaders understand how to best support children's learning. As a result, disadvantaged children consistently make good progress. Children in receipt of additional funding thrive at this nurturing setting.
• Staff help children to develop a real love of reading. They introduce children to a wide range of engaging texts. Children snuggle up with staff to listen to their favourite stories. They take books and related activities home to share with their families. This approach helps to establish a consistent approach to learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen training and coaching to support staff to consistently enhance their practice, with particular focus on supporting children to build on prior learning and improving interactions with children to further extend their communication and language skills.