Marybone Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and friendly, home-from-home environment that children are eager to enter. They form strong bonds with all children and families that attend. Staff recognise instantly when children are tired, overwhelmed or behaving out of character and offer additional support and reassurance. They get to know new children well and adapt their practice to support their individual needs. Staff offer an abundance of cuddles, which helps children to feel safe and promotes their emotional well-being. Children behave well. Staff model sharing and turn-taking, which children learn to copy. When children have disputes, staff respond appropriately. They validate and talk to children about their feelings. This helps children learn about and begin to regulate their own emotions.

The nursery provides a curriculum that is ambitious for all children. Communication and language development are particularly well implemented. Staff spend a lot of time talking to children. They introduce a variety of new words, such as 'gigantic' and 'fragile', to extend children's existing vocabulary. Children enjoy singing and confidently recall the words to action rhymes. Staff recognise that children who speak English as an additional language need more support. They use key single words, gestures and familiar songs to help children gain a grasp of English. This helps to ensure that all children make progress from their starting points.

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

• Children access a broad and interesting curriculum that provides them with experiences they would not typically get. Staff recognise when children have not had the opportunity to gain skills and plan activities that narrow the gaps in learning. They identify appropriate individual next steps and incorporate these into activities that children are interested in. All children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• Overall, children have a lovely attitude to learning. They are eager to take part in adult-led activities and demonstrate good levels of concentration. However, staff do not always recognise when some children need more adult support to engage consistently. Consequently, these children spend too long not engaged in play or learning.
• The procedures for identifying and supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well embedded. Staff monitor children's development closely to swiftly identify any gaps in learning. Additional screening assessments are carried out to further support children's communication and language development. Staff implement targeted support for those children who need it to help them make progress in their learning.
• Staff incorporate mathematical development into children's play. They introduce words, such as 'big', 'tall', 'more' and 'full', to extend children's mathematical language. Children use weighing scales to make predictions about heavy and light and count with one-to-one correspondence. They are developing some of the mathematical skills needed for their eventual move to school.
• Staff help children to learn about some of the things that support a healthy lifestyle. They talk to children about healthy foods and provide nutritious meals. Children follow good hygiene routines, such as handwashing, and learn about the importance of oral health. They take part in exercise sessions, such as yoga, to help build their physical strength. This helps to promote children's overall good health and well-being.
• Overall, partnership working is effective. Staff work closely with the local school to share information and aid smooth transitions for children. Parents receive some information about children's learning each term. However, parents do not always receive ongoing information about children's next steps to help them extend learning at home. This hinders the continuity in children's education.
• Children show good levels of independence for their age. They self-register on arrival, serve their own breakfast and carry their meal plate independently. Children access the water jug throughout the day, carefully pouring their own water. They are building up their resilience and confidence when doing tasks for themselves.
• The long-standing team of staff are happy and well supported at the nursery. They receive feedback on their practice and share their expertise with each other. Staff have supervision meetings each term and are supported to access professional development opportunities, such as training. This helps them to provide high-quality care and education for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to recognise when some children need more encouragement to engage in purposeful play and learning experiences
• provide parents with ongoing information about children's next steps and how they can extend these at home.