Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery Cambridge

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children play happily with their friends and are keen to learn. They welcome staff who join their investigations and games. Children pour water through pipes. They rush to the other end, catching the water as it flows through. They take it to a tractor tyre and tip water into the centre, before climbing in to watch the water soak away. This helps them begin to make sense of what happens in the world around them. Babies and very young children become engrossed in sensory exploration. They watch rose petals gently fall from a basket, holding out their hands to feel them. Staff use rhythmic and tuneful sounds, encouraging those unable to speak yet to babble. Babies experiment with their own voices in meaningful exchanges of two-way interactions. Not only does this help create the foundations for verbal communication, but also strengthens social development.

Children enjoy books. They carefully turn the pages, pointing out things that interest them in the illustrations, and talk to staff about what they see. Staff use their fingers to follow the words they are reading, helping children understand that the text has meaning. Children recall familiar words and phrases from popular stories and anticipate what might happen next. This helps children build on their developing vocabularies.

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

• Staff regularly assess children's progress and share the information with parents. Staff introduce focused teaching to support children's learning needs during adult- and child-led activities. While all children follow a weekly theme, key persons plan memorable experiences that follow children's individual passions and interests. This contributes to children's positive learning experiences.
• Differences and similarities that children share are celebrated. Children find out about different communities and cultures in a variety of ways. For example, staff ask parents to tell them about celebrations and events from home that are important to their family. These are talked about and explored in the nursery, helping children develop a sense of belonging and respect towards others.
• Skilled staff ensure routine activities are pleasurable experiences. Children are not rushed and staff make the most of their time with children. For example, they gently sing and show babies their reflections in a mirror during nappy changes. While children eat their nutritionally balanced meals, staff ask questions that help them to work out how to cut their food into manageable pieces.
• The gentle encouragement and respect for the children shown by staff is reflected through children's own behaviour and attitudes towards others. In addition, the well-considered curriculum and some outstanding elements in teaching help to motivate children's desire to learn new skills and build on their own experiences. When the time comes, children are ready to embrace new challenges in their next phase of learning.
• Children who speak English as an additional language are supported effectively. Staff find out key words in children's home languages. Staff use their own advanced skills in children's other languages to help settle them into the nursery. All children benefit from a language-rich environment, helping to strengthen their growing communication skills.
• The owner, newly-appointed manager and other senior leaders have high expectations of the quality of provision. When complaints or concerns are raised, swift action is taken. The owner reviews the circumstances and where necessary, strengthens procedures, helping to minimise risk. She also notifies Ofsted in a timely manner when it is appropriate to do so.
• Staff plan children's days so that they have opportunities to learn in different environments. Despite this, there are times when some spaces, including outside, are more popular. At times, this results in some areas becoming crowded. This means that children do not always have space to freely explore and use resources effectively to help maximise their learning and individual expression.
• Staff plan positive learning opportunities and give good-quality care to children. However, the management team's high aspirations and drive for excellence in every aspect of care and education is not always fully reflected throughout all aspects of staff practice.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make use of the available spaces in the most effective way to further support children's learning and well-being
• find different ways to support and encourage all staff to understand and deliver the highest levels of provision in all aspects of care and education throughout the nursery.