Mighty Oaks Day Nursery & Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm and welcoming environment and spend time getting to know the children to build secure relationships. As a result, children arrive happy, settle quickly and confidently explore the environment. For example, older children enjoy talking with the staff about the weather and making pictures. Babies build towers with bricks and laugh with excitement as they knock the towers down. Staff support children successfully during their play and meet their individual needs effectively.

Staff deploy themselves well and provide a broad and interesting curriculum and extend children's learning. Children dress the dolls and pretend to cook and eat food in the play kitchen. Staff support children in developing good communication and language by asking open questions. They use praise effectively, using phrases such as 'good job', which supports children's confidence and self-esteem. Children take turns and share well during small-group activities.

Children enjoy opportunities to be a part of their wider community. They visit a local care home where they take part in activities with the elderly residents. They also enjoy hosting when the residents come to visit them at the nursery. They go to the post office to post a letter and visit the supermarket to buy food, which they get to eat.

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

• Staff focus effectively on providing a wide range of learning experiences, which build on what children already know and can do. Babies enjoy playing musical instruments, experimenting with the different sounds that they can make. Staff name the instruments, such as the 'cymbals' and 'drum', to build on children's understanding and vocabulary.
• Staff make regular observations of children engaged in learning. They use this information successfully to identify children's next stages of learning and any gaps in their development. The provider and staff share this information with parents, who are very happy with the provision and the progress their children make. All children make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills and benefit from lots of outdoor learning experiences. They take part in yoga, which instils a calmness in the setting. They practise throwing, catching and kicking different-sized balls to develop good hand-eye coordination skills.
• Children use a range of resources to make pictures and be creative. However, sometimes, staff do not give children the freedom in adult-led craft activities to try out their ideas and use their imagination fully. In addition, staff do not consistently support children to develop the skills that they need to use tools safely, such as scissors.
• Children count and recognise shapes in routines and activities. This strengthens their mathematical understanding. Staff provide opportunities for children to be independent, confident and socially able to support them in being school ready.
• Children's behaviour is good. They enthusiastically help to tidy away resources and get ready for lunchtime. They dress themselves for outside play and follow the 'rules' as they walk from the building to the outside area, gaining a good understanding of how to keep themselves safe.
• Staff provide good care practices to promote children's health. They help children to develop an important understanding of healthy eating through discussion. Children's individual preferences and dietary requirements are well catered for.
• The provider and staff are reflective practitioners. They are constantly looking at what is going well and what needs to be improved to benefit and enhance children's experiences. For example, recent training in behaviour management has increased staff's knowledge of how to help children regulate their feelings and emotions. This has helped children to feel even more secure.
• The provider leads and manages the setting well. They support the staff team effectively so that they enjoy and feel valued in their role. Staff receive coaching and attend meetings to discuss their professional development, including opportunities for them to reflect on their practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide consistent opportunities for children to explore and try out their ideas to further develop their imagination
• provide more support for younger children to develop skills and use tools safely, such as scissors.