Meadows Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted at the nursery door by the kind and caring staff team. They provide gentle support and reassurance to help children separate from their parents or carers. Children move into their rooms and are supported to explore and engage in their play. Staff plan a broad curriculum, enriched by children's interests and next steps in learning. This helps children to develop their knowledge and make good progress in their learning and development.

Children benefit from daily outdoor play, which promotes their health and well-being. Toddlers enthusiastically join in with a colour treasure hunt prepared by staff in the garden. They persevere as they look for the objects. Staff extend this activity, encouraging problem-solving skills as children find objects and match them to coloured cards. They effectively support children's communication and language skills. Staff ask children to name the colours and count how many objects they have found. Pre-school children build on past learning, when exploring different habitats through sensory play. They are eager to investigate sand, 'snow' and water trays and make links to the animals that live in these environments. Staff encourage care for the natural world. For example, they help children to gently handle a ladybird. Babies explore age-appropriate resources, such as rattles. Staff sit alongside them to support their play. They introduce simple words, such as 'shake', and follow their lead. Babies develop their physical skills and confidence. Staff encourage them to climb and use the slide safely.

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

• Leaders reflect on practice and welcome constructive feedback. They acknowledge areas for improvement, such as lapses in the organisation of mealtimes that leave children waiting longer than is necessary. Leaders have some procedures in place to monitor the quality of teaching. They support staff to access professional development opportunities to further their knowledge and skills. However, current systems to evaluate practice are not always fully effective. Leaders do not consistently monitor the overall quality of provision or address minor weaknesses quickly enough. This hinders their ability to close gaps in staff's knowledge and skills to sustain the highest standards of practice.
• The nursery has a key-person system and, overall, staff build positive attachments, getting to know children well. They gather information from parents about children's interests, routines and development at home and use this to plan learning experiences from the outset. However, staff do not always allocate key persons in a timely way, when children first begin to attend or move between rooms. This delays consistency in relationships and the settling-in process. In addition, staff do not always use daily routines as effectively as possible to strengthen relationships and fully support children as they adjust to the setting or their new room.
• Staff promote children's awareness of healthy practices throughout the day. They help children to wash their hands before mealtimes and guide them to manage their self-care, such as wiping their nose. Staff provide calm, nurturing support when babies sleep and gently rock them to rest. They provide older children with sleep mats and comforters. Staff monitor the rooms and carry out regular physical checks to ensure all children are safe and well.
• Staff enhance children's independence skills during mealtimes. Older children collect their plates and cutlery and serve themselves, developing good coordination. Staff support children to manage their area, reminding them to move their cups to the centre of the table to make pouring drinks easier. They provide encouragement and guidance while children eat, sitting alongside them to ensure they are safely supervised.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. They work closely with parents and professionals, such as educational psychologists and speech and language therapists, to ensure consistency in the strategies used. Staff hold regular meetings with parents and professionals. Together, they review the effectiveness of strategies and make adjustments where necessary, to ensure children are supported to make the progress they are capable of.
• Children behave well. Staff consistently guide and reinforce children's positive behaviour. They remind children a few minutes before activities, such as going inside or tidying up, so children can manage their expectations and navigate transitions confidently. During indoor-to-outdoor transitions, staff count children at the doorway and give clear instructions, ensuring safety and promoting independence. They actively praise children's positive behaviour. For example, applauding children after story time for sitting attentively and listening.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen monitoring procedures to help leaders swiftly identify and address minor weaknesses in practice and provide targeted support to staff to secure consistently high-quality outcomes for all children
• strengthen the key-person system and use daily routines more effectively so that children build secure relationships from the moment they start or move between rooms.