Middleton St George Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show enjoyment during their time at the nursery and benefit from plenty of opportunities for fresh air. Children of all ages enjoy using the recently developed outdoor area. Staff create a warm, welcoming environment in the nursery. Children independently access a range of creative and interesting resources. They enjoy making choices about their learning and show confidence in asking staff for help. Older children who attend the holiday club are keen to share how much they enjoy attending. They particularly enjoy the outdoor activities and say that the staff team are lovely. Staff are responsive to children and have high expectations. They use children's interests to extend their learning. Children make good progress, particularly in their understanding of the world and their own community.

Children show that they feel safe and secure in the nursery. They talk excitedly about their community and the different things they expect to see as they walk around. Children learn new vocabulary linked to nature and children delight when they see the cygnets in the lake. Older children show pride as they share their knowledge of the horse chestnut tree and remember things they have learned previously. Since the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, the manager has changed the procedures for settling-in children and the collection and dropping off of children. Although parents are no longer invited inside the nursery, staff make full use of their outdoor space to get to know new children and families. They collect detailed information about children's routines and use this information to help them care for children.

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

• Staff use comforting voices and reassurance to help children who are new to the setting build relationships with them. They respond when they recognise babies are tired, and provide them with objects from home to help them go to sleep. Babies respond well to praise, and use their hands to feel the wooden logs and materials in the basket. Staff praise children regularly and this helps children to keep trying new experiences.
• Older children show high levels of confidence, independence and have good problem-solving skills. For example, children thoroughly enjoy lining up their sunflowers and they work together to put them in height order. Staff extend children's mathematical understanding. For example, they teach children how to measure in centimetres. However, staff do not consistently build on older children's developing reading and writing skills as effectively. For example, children's names are pre-written before the activity starts.
• Staff who work with toddlers plan focused times for them to develop their social skills and language skills. Children show enjoyment as they sit together and sing rhymes. However, their learning is sometimes disrupted by the area and time that staff plan to carry out this activity. For example, children are distracted from their learning by the sounds from the ventilators and extractor fans.
• Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe in the community. Older children show confidence in assessing the risks in their environment, such as crossing the road. They learn how to behave safely with minimal support. Children develop an understanding of being healthy. Staff are good role models and promote positive behaviour. They show children how to wash their hands correctly and talk to children during lunchtimes about how 'vegetables help their muscles grow big and strong'.
• The manager is kind, caring and supportive towards her team. During the pandemic, she has offered staff a choice about attending the setting and she has supported their decisions. The manager uses her time in the nursery's rooms to model effective teaching and to help staff reflect on their practice each day. This has helped to develop staff's understanding of how to engage more deeply with children and had a positive impact on children's behaviour.
• The manager and staff team develop and maintain partnerships with other professionals who work with children. For example, they regularly hold discussions with teachers about how they can support children to move on to school.
• Partnerships with parents are very positive. They leave feedback about the nursery and say that 'between the premises, the environment and the team, their children have everything they need'. The manager regularly sends out newsletters and new procedures to help parents understand the expectations of the nursery. Parents say that they feel communication is very clear and concise and this has helped them during difficult times.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance staff's understanding of how to promote older children's developing reading and writing skills further during experiences
• consider ways to reduce noise levels indoors, particularly during focused communication and language sessions, to help extend children's learning even further.