Milestones Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and engaged in this warm and welcoming nursery. They make a smooth start to their learning experiences and form strong bonds with the staff who care for them. Staff work well with parents to understand children's interests, needs and routines when they start. They use the information well to plan for children's progress in all aspects of their learning. Staff have high expectations, and children make good progress overall. Children are well prepared for starting school. For example, they develop their hand and pencil control when they make marks in sand and foam during sensory play. Older children create detailed pictures and early writing about the animals during a farmyard visit.

Children feel safe and are well behaved. They learn to be polite and considerate towards their friends and those who care for them. Snack and mealtimes are sociable learning occasions. For instance, children learn to prepare fruit and vegetables for their snack while chatting happily to staff and each other. Children learn to recognise what they enjoy playing with, and staff help them to challenge themselves further. For example, children are encouraged to reach higher and exert themselves as they play on climbing frames and slides. Parents particularly appreciate the care and support they and their children received from staff throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents comment positively about the steps taken to boost their children's social skills.

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

• Staff promote children's personal development well overall. They help children to develop their concentration and attempt different experiences, such as trying new food on 'taster days' or mixing water and sand in their sensory play. However, staff do not consistently help children to be responsible for their immediate environment or to leave toys tidy and ready for others to play.
• Parents strongly recommend the nursery. They welcome the increased daily information they receive about their children's play and progress. However, staff do not keep parents as well informed about forthcoming planning to enable them to more fully contribute to their children's learning.
• The new management team has worked closely with staff over the last year to review and embed an exciting and challenging curriculum. Staff's morale is high as they feel their contributions are valued and their efforts respected. They make good use of training and research opportunities to, for example, develop children's speaking skills and understanding of the world.
• Staff place a high importance on the development of children's communication skills throughout their learning. They model new vocabulary to children in all their learning and build their confidence to use new words through careful questions and discussions.
• Staff strongly promote children's love of books. They teach children a wide range of nursery rhymes, traditional tales and songs. Staff carefully choose books that develop children's interests and language experiences and support all areas of their learning. Staff read stories very well and bring them to life through actions and role play. Children become familiar with the language and vocabulary of the 'book of the week'. They love to sit and look at this and other books in one of the many engaging reading areas, indoors and out.
• Staff promote children's mathematical development well. They help them to recognise patterns, such as through printing repeated pictures with natural objects and arranging containers by size in their water play. They help children to recognise sequences from following phrases such as 'ready, steady, go' to counting 'one, two, three' and higher.
• Staff strongly support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They identify gaps in children's learning and development at an early stage. Staff work closely with other professionals, such as speech therapists, to plan children's future learning. They use additional funding well. For example, to enrich children's knowledge of the world through visits and trips and to develop resources to support their sensory play and love of books.
• Staff encourage children's healthy lifestyles and well-being. Children play sorting activities to learn about healthy food and how to keep their teeth clean and healthy. They plant seeds and grow their own fruits and vegetables. Children are active and busy throughout the day.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help children build on their good personal development, particularly by encouraging further responsibility for tidying and organising their immediate environment
• strengthen the good partnership with parents to enable them to more fully contribute to children's learning at home.