Monkey Puzzle Day Nurseries - High Wycombe

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident to explore their play environment. They have close bonds with the staff working in their rooms and with other staff in the nursery. Children seek reassurance from them when it is needed. Babies explore different areas to extend their experiences, adapting their use to enhance their interest and curiosities. For example, they roll a ball down the slide to see where it goes, using new skills to manoeuvre the ball from one place to another on their bellies.

Children are excited to discover new skills and experiences. Staff encourage them to experiment further and extend their thinking. They use open-ended questions to help children to think for themselves. Children question how things work and why. For example, in the pre-school room, children discuss vegetables, how to cut them and what they like and dislike. They openly share their experiences from home, talking about foods they like to eat. This continues at lunchtime, when children ask for certain foods to be served separately as this is how they prefer them.

Children develop a strong understanding of hygiene. Babies listen when staff ask if they need their noses wiping. Toddlers confidently visit the bathroom to wash their hands after messy play. Pre-school children use the toilet themselves and know to wash their hands afterwards. Staff give clear explanations about the importance of handwashing and discuss the need to remove germs to help keep them healthy.

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

• Children confidently develop independence skills. Staff encourage them to try tasks themselves. For example, they put on shoes to go outside and play. Children follow instructions to tidy away resources, showing responsibility for their toys and equipment.
• Older children thoroughly enjoy responsibilities to tidy and clean up. For instance, they relish tasks such as wiping tables and setting up for lunchtime. Children learn to problem-solve, making sure everyone has what they need for lunchtime. Children complete this task to their full satisfaction, taking pride in their learning.
• Children respond well to boundaries, explanations and rules. They care for their friends and listen carefully to instructions about sharing and taking turns. Staff use subtle strategies to distract children when they become frustrated and take their emotions out on their friends. Toddlers learn to appreciate each other's space, play and time with others.
• Staff are deployed well in the nursery. Children are supervised closely but given opportunities to decide where and how to play. They engage well, both indoors and outdoors. Staff help children to challenge and extend their skills and thinking. However, some staff do not always evaluate how effective their practice is during mealtime activities. Therefore, on occasion, children do not receive the same level of positive engagement to support their learning as they do during child-led play.
• All children develop effective communication skills. They learn to hold conversations from an early age. Babies babble in turn with staff, expressing themselves through sounds, expressions and gestures. Children who speak English as an additional language have effective support to vocalise their needs. Staff emphasis words strongly to support children's development of English and to respect and reflect their home language. Older children use complex language to describe their play. They confidently hold long conversations, sharing ideas with their peers and staff. Staff introduce vocabulary to extend children's speech and understanding.
• Managers and leaders are highly reflective and adapt what they offer to meet the needs of the children who currently attend the setting. For example, they are in the process of developing a more enabling environment outdoors to mirror the learning inside to outside. Staff talk positively about using children's experiences outside to enhance their identified next steps in their development.
• Parents make positive comments about the care their children receive. They appreciate the handover process at the beginning and end of the day. Parents feel well informed about their child's day, the achievements they make and the next steps in their development. Staff use effective communication systems to share children's experiences and support parents' knowledge of how children learn through play. Parent are regularly invited to share their skills, cultures and experiences with children to enhance their knowledge of the world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's confidence to continually evaluate the effectiveness of their own practice and recognise the impact this has on children's learning and how this can be improved.