Melrose on the Hill

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, parents say goodbye to children at the door. Senior staff receive each child, having a short handover before children eagerly enter the building, ready for their day. Children arrive happy, separating easily from their parent, and greet friends and staff.

Children are offered breakfast. Food provided is vegetarian and systems are in place to ensure the cook can adapt meals to suit individual children's dietary requirements. At lunchtime, all children and staff come together in small groups to eat. Key persons support and encourage children to eat and they also eat the meal provided. Young children feed themselves. Older children pour their own drink and when they have finished eating they clear plates and put utensils on the trolley to go back to the kitchen.

Leaders and managers support staff to spend as much time as possible with children. The manager collates daily information and shares this with parents via email to ensure staff are not taken away from children. Children spend part of the day in small key groups. Staff model and support interactions such as turn taking and sharing. Behaviour is good. Children are confident to join in and share what they know. They are encouraged to become independent and self-confident communicators by the time they leave the setting.

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

• Children enjoy daily opportunities for songs and rhymes, Staff know children well, encouraging them to join in at an appropriate level. For example, some children use actions with staff, encouraging single words, and others are supported to sing phrases. Some children chose to stand up to sing to the group.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported by staff who speak their home language. Celebrations held in the setting reflect the heritage of children and staff. Books are shared, and craft activities and food provided are planned to support understanding and to broaden children's experiences.
• All children wash their hands in preparation for snacks and meals. Self-care is further enhanced by staff supporting children's independence with toileting, dressing and regular toothbrushing. This develops children's awareness of how to maintain their good health.
• Resources are created by staff to support children's enjoyment and participation in group activities. When some children move forward and others lose interest, staff quickly identify that the images of food are too small for all the children to see. Staff adapt the session to maintain children's attention.
• Children eagerly participate in adult-led activities, staff guide and support children well, overall. However, some staff miss opportunities to sustain conversations and extend children's language as they constantly ask questions to test children's knowledge.
• Parents speak very highly of this setting, sharing how happy they are with the progress their child makes. Parents also describe, after the recent break, how their child runs to the door to greet staff and friends. Parents share how they have been supported by staff to feel included in their child's learning by regular information on children's development, as well as daily information on care.
• Photographs are sent to parents via email when children move from home into the nursery. Meetings with parents are arranged to discuss progress or concerns, and to view learning journals when needed rather than set times during the year.
• The nursery providers and manager support staff with regular supervision and training. Vacancies within the setting are used as opportunities for the professional career development of existing members of staff. Staff are happy and job retention is good.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to use a range of different strategies to develop children's communication and increase their vocabulary.