Miyabi Yochien

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle well in this warm, organised nursery. They are confident and motivated to learn. Staff treat each child as special and know and appreciate their individual personalities. They have high expectations of children. Children gain good communication, language and literacy skills. For instance, staff read a variety of stories, including dual-language books, to teach children new words. This supports children who are learning English as an additional language. Staff sing songs and rhymes, which supports children's language skills further.

Children learn to share and to take turns well. They play cooperatively in the mud kitchen in the outdoor area, where they share resources and take on different roles. Children act with care and caution. For instance, they wear wellington boots to avoid slipping in muddy areas outdoors. Children walk indoors to reduce the risk of accidents. They develop a good understanding of difference. Staff explain the meanings behind special cultural and religious events, and celebrate these with children, such as Chinese New Year and Eid. Staff use multicultural puppets while telling stories to support children's understanding of diversity. The curriculum is balanced and comprehensive. Children learn valuable skills in preparation for school.

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

• Children learn good mathematical skills. For instance, staff play dice games with children, who select the corresponding number of pasta pieces to match the number shown. Children connect cubes together to explore length and size. Staff teach children the names of different shapes.
• Staff support children's creative development well. For instance, children use good folding skills to make origami models. They enjoy exploring different textures, such as cornflakes and sand.
• Children learn about their feelings and those of others. Staff talk to children about their feelings and children draw expressive faces on paper. Staff create imaginative scenes to help children to understand, for example, frightened frogs hiding under water lilies. They teach children to understand different feelings and how to handle them.
• Children are able to do things for themselves. For example, they remove their outdoor shoes when they arrive at the nursery and hang up their coats. Children fetch their own drinks and help to tidy up at the end of play sessions.
• Children behave very well. They have a good understanding of the nursery's ethos of kindness and compassion and show consideration towards each other. Staff manage children's behaviour well. They are calm, fair and share group rules with children.
• Children have a good awareness of oral hygiene. Staff teach children how to brush their teeth after lunch each day. A hygienist visits the nursery regularly to talk with children about how to keep their teeth and gums healthy.
• Staff work well with parents. They keep them informed about their children's progress in effective ways. For instance, staff provide information on children's progress verbally and through secure software applications. They invite parents into the nursery to play with their children and support their learning.
• The manager provides a good level of support to staff. He meets with staff regularly to provide assistance where needed and identifies staff's training needs. For instance, staff have attended in-house training on meeting children's developmental needs. There is a chaplain and trained counsellor available to staff to support their well-being.
• The manager regularly reviews all aspects of how the nursery operates. He has a good understanding of its strengths and weaknesses. The manager sets clear goals to build ongoing improvements. For example, he aims to strengthen children's understanding of diversity.
• Overall, staff interact positively with children and they show warmth and enthusiasm. However, at times, some staff do not make effective interventions in children's play to support their learning further. For example, some staff do not make the most of opportunities to extend children's learning as they play.
• Staff help children to gain some understanding of the world, such as the names of different insects and animals. However, staff have not developed this fully to help children to learn about changes in the natural world.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make more consistent, timely interventions in children's play to support their learning further
• develop children's understanding of the world further, particularly about how things change in the natural world.