Mini Miners Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and enjoy learning in the setting. They have good relationships with staff members, which helps them to feel safe and relaxed. Children who attend are part of a diverse community. Children learn about how they are similar to others and celebrate their differences. Everyone is treated equally. Children have a positive attitude towards learning and towards each other. They behave well.

Children who are new to the setting settle quickly. Children who speak English as an additional language are able to communicate with staff members who speak other languages, such as Punjabi and Urdu. This helps them to feel comfortable and assured. Children have many opportunities to learn English. They learn new words through stories and songs. For example, children and staff stand in a big circle outside and sing 'Wind the bobbin up'. Children join in with the actions and sing enthusiastically.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make good progress. They enjoy a tailored curriculum that meets their individual learning needs. All children, including funded two-year-olds, are challenged to reach the next stage in their learning. Children are eager to learn and thoroughly enjoy activities that hold their attention.

Children are making good progress in their communication and social skills following the COVID-19 pandemic. They practise skills independently, for example by pouring and mixing ingredients as they make play dough. Children have regular opportunities to be physically active, both indoors and outside.

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

• Staff assess children's communication and language skills so that teaching can be adapted to meet the individual needs of children. For example, staff use different strategies, such as speaking clearly and showing visual signs, to aid children's communication. Support is provided to children who speak English as an additional language. As a result, children's English is improving. This helps to prepare them for life in modern Britain.
• Children with SEND are cared for warmly and sensitively. Staff use strategies to help them to access the curriculum. For example, in the morning, staff members take some children to a side room to help them settle before joining the group. Staff embrace advice from external agencies to help them support children with SEND.
• Staff plan activities that take account of children's interests. They use assessments to find out what children know and what they need to learn next. Staff work with local schools to develop their curriculum. For example, older children take part in structured phonics sessions and practise writing letters of their names. This helps to prepare children for their transition to school.
• Children have a good understanding of some of the daily routines. For example, children demonstrate positive behaviour and familiarity as they go inside, wash their hands and brush their teeth. However, the lunchtime routine is not as strong. Some children are not clear about what is expected of them. During lunchtime, some children leave the table and others attempt to take food that is not theirs. As a result, some children are a little unsettled.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents describe the setting as having a friendly atmosphere and praise the staff team. They appreciate that staff speak to them in their home language. Parents are very happy with the communication they receive. They also welcome the ideas to help to extend their children's learning at home. For example, staff give parents ideas for learning at home, and parents share photos of their children doing these activities. This partnership working has a positive impact on children's learning.
• The manager and staff have good partnerships with training providers and the local authority advisory team. Staff take on board suggestions from the local authority on how to improve the setting. For example, they have given children red or blue bags to help them to remember which key group they are in. However, staff do not have effective partnerships with other settings that children attend. This means that important information is not shared, to help promote continuity in children's learning and progress.
• The manager is passionate and wants the very best for the children in her care. She delivers training to staff so that they have up-to-date knowledge of how children learn. There is a culture of preparing children for future success. The manager and staff do this by providing exciting opportunities for children to have new experiences. For example, children visit the library, park and local shops, which helps them to learn about the wider world.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the lunchtime routine so that children understand what is expected of them
• develop partnerships with other settings that children attend, to promote continuity in their learning and progress.