Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited when arriving at the setting. Equally, staff are delighted to see them. Children are extremely well supported to settle in. Children, across the setting, show high levels of respect for others. Very young babies give sensory bottles to each other, toddlers pour paint for their friends, and pre-school children cooperate with one another to make a pathway for staff and other children to walk along. Children increasingly show high levels of confidence in social situations.

Children enjoy many opportunities indoors and outdoors that develop their physical skills. Children are becoming effective communicators because the staff focus on developing their communication and language. Children benefit from staff interactions, who use any moment to build on their vocabulary and engage them in conversation.

Children thoroughly enjoy playing in the role-play areas. They explore real food and develop their small-muscle skills as they play. Children use a knife to cut fruit and learn how to do this safely. Staff model and describe how to use the knife in a safe way alongside the children. They provide frequent and specific praise for children's achievements. This creates a positive learning environment where children are keen to have a go at a variety of activities. Children help at tidy-up time so that the areas remain safe to play in.

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

• Leaders are ambitious and effectively evaluate their provision on a regular basis. They have created a culture of reflective practice where all staff work together to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff feel very well supported, which contributes to their high levels of well-being. This shows in their attitude towards their work. Staff are positive role models, who are enthusiastic and joyful about playing with the children.
• Children are highly independent and confident. This includes the youngest children and those who have recently joined. For example, they independently wash their hands from a very young age. Older children learn to identify risks, such as spilt drinks, which they clean up without prompting. Children have high levels of respect for each other and cooperate when playing together. During mealtimes, children serve themselves. This was not possible during the COVID- 19 pandemic, but they picked up those skills quickly again. Staff support children's independence with a well-organised learning environment and flexible routines. This helps children to thrive and make independent choices.
• All children make very good progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Leaders and staff work exceptionally well together to identify gaps in children's learning. They get the necessary support for the children to make even better progress. Parents say that their children have improved massively since attending the setting and that it is like a family. However, the two-way flow of communication requires further development. After children have started, staff do not frequently enquire about or support children's learning at home.
• The leaders have an ambitious curriculum for children. They ensure that children experience a variety of different learning opportunities. Their curriculum thinking includes teaching children about science, technology, engineering and mathematics.
• Staff's high-quality interactions and questions help to extend children's learning. Staff encourage children to use their senses, such as to look, listen and smell. Children recall their learning during an activity and say they need to look, listen and smell when staff ask them to identify what they can drink. This encourages children to talk further about the process and they become resilient as they develop skills for later life.
• Children experience opportunities that they may not get elsewhere, such as learning Yoga and Spanish. They learn about the world around them, including different cultures. Children recently found out about Chinese New Year and enjoyed celebrating Shrove Tuesday. However, the curriculum does not wholly represent all children's and families' backgrounds when celebrating in the setting.
• The leaders have created a learning environment where children develop their large and small muscles. Each room has a dedicated area for children's physical development, such as soft play, a climbing frame or a ball pit. Staff think of activities and resources to help children develop the small muscles in their hands and hand-to-eye coordination. The strength and skills children gain help to prepare them for writing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deepen children's experiences with a rich and diverse curriculum that represents all children and families and helps children learn about people and communities that are different to their own
• enhance the partnership with parents to extend children's learning at home, particularly those from disadvantage backgrounds.