Marsh Lane Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily to start their day at nursery, and they are keen to get involved in the activities on offer. Children settle in easily and staff work closely with parents to get to know children from the outset. They gather information from parents about children's routines, interests and preferences and staff use this information effectively to offer complementary care and learning experiences for them at nursery, which offers them a good continuity of care. This helps children build good relationships with their key person and other staff members. Children make good progress in their learning and development during their time at the nursery.

Children socialise with one another well. They make friends easily and play collaboratively with one another. For instance, they pretend to make cakes in the role-play area and delight in giving their friends rides on the bikes. Children have good independence skills. They do things for themselves and manage their self-care well. For example, many children with the support of staff, transition out of nappies and can independently use the toilet in time for transitioning to the pre-school. Overall, children behave well. Generally, staff give children clear messages regarding expectations and rules. This helps children learn how to play and interact positively with others.

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

• Leaders have developed a curriculum that helps prepare children well for their next stage in learning and eventual move to school. Staff assess what children can do and know and they plan for children's learning well. They follow children's interests and combine this with what they know children need to learn next to plan activities. Children make good progress in their learning.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills effectively. Staff model language well and teach children new vocabulary. They encourage children to engage in conversations and give children good commentary on their play. Consequently, children, including those who speak English as an additional language, develop well with this aspect of their development and become confident communicators.
• Leaders are committed to providing children with good-quality care and education. Leaders encourage children to engage in both adult-led activities and activities that they choose themselves. Overall, the deployment of staff is adequate. However, on occasion, such as during changes in routines and at times when staff prioritise housekeeping tasks, staff left working with the youngest children struggle to manage the demands of the children. This means at these times, valuable learning time is lost, and the youngest children's needs are not always met as successfully.
• Older children are creative and use critical thinking skills to problem solve as they build a vehicle from large parts play. Staff offer guidance to children and praise children regularly, helping children feel proud of their achievements. For example, as children work together to achieve a shared goal they are reminded of their effective teamwork. Staff give young children time to explore and use their senses. For instance, they explore pop up toys with curiosity and show excitement when they learn about the cause and effect as they push buttons that make things pop up.
• Staff support children to develop their physical abilities by providing lots of opportunities for active play. Children benefit from daily time in the fresh air, which promotes healthy lifestyles.
• Children benefit from respectful care routines. For example, staff gently support and provide comfort for young children as they give them their bottles and settle them down to sleep. This helps children to feel safe and secure.
• Leaders implement a supervision process to support staff development and plan for improvement. For example, they observe staff practice and offer regular feedback about what is going well and what could be improved. They provide training to the team. However, although leaders recognise their strengths and areas to improve and have identified the need to support some newer and/or less experienced staff to further develop their skills, they have not yet targeted the coaching and support they provide precisely enough for individual staff to ensure all provide a consistently high level of teaching.
• Leaders ensure that staff complete mandatory training, such as first aid and safeguarding training. Staff have a clear understanding of their roles and responsibilities in relation to risk assessment.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how staffing arrangements can be further improved so that throughout the day all children are consistently immersed in learning
• provide more targeted and tailored professional development opportunities to individual staff members to raise the quality of their teaching even further so that they can all provide high-quality, meaningful interactions.