Monkey Puzzle Day Nursery New Cross

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle well on arrival and are happy to meet the staff and their peers. Babies demonstrate close bonds with their key person. They babble happily in response to staff interactions with them. Staff meet children's emotional needs well and help them build familiarity with the setting.

Staff use opportunities, such as children's role play, to introduce them to the importance of healthy foods. Toddlers learn to name fruits and vegetables and comment 'I like mushrooms'.

Older children build on their hand to eye coordination, for example as they learn to cut around shapes with scissors. Staff show children how to hold the scissors and teach them how to keep themselves safe during these activities.

Staff are supportive as they help children to learn how to take turns during play. Children respond well to praise and encouragement from the staff. They behave well and understand the routines at the setting.

Leaders and staff have high aims for individual children's achievements and plan a curriculum that supports their steady progress towards next stages in their learning. Children with speech and language difficulties and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from the inclusive curriculum and make good progress from their starting points. Leaders use funding well to meet individual children's needs.

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

• Leaders carry out regular supervision of staff practice and plan well for staff training. Staff use their knowledge and skills well, for instance to teach children strategies to learn to manage their emotions and to understand what is expected of their behaviour. They plan a range of sensory activities to stimulate young children's curiosity to explore with their senses.
• Staff make good use of assessments to identify next steps in individual children's learning. Partnerships with professionals and other settings are strong to support individual children's progress and continuity in their learning experiences.
• Leaders organise group meetings for parents to meet the staff and other parents whose children attend the setting. This helps to promote a sense of community. Key persons share regular updates with parents, for instance when parents come into the setting at the end of the day to pick up their children. Most parents provide positive views about the setting and are happy with the updates they receive from leaders and staff. Leaders are reflective and aim to continually increase opportunities for key persons and parents to discuss individual children's progress with each other.
• Staff encourage babies to make choices. They show them how to make handprints and footprints with paint. Staff demonstrate how to dip small-world transport vehicles in paint and make wheel tracks with them. They then encourage children to choose how they would like to explore the paint. Children show they are happy as they smile during staff interactions with them and become engrossed in the activity.
• Staff support children well to help them learn to care for their personal needs. They provide clear instructions and support to children who learn to use the toilet independently. For example, toddlers learn how to flush the toilet. Staff teach children hygiene routines, such as washing hands at appropriate times.
• Older children are confident communicators. They say they like to colour and paint and do 'craft work' when they come to the setting. They enjoy reading books with staff. While reading a story about dogs, they are excited to identify where the dog is hiding by spotting the tip of the dog's tail in the picture. Children who speak English as an additional language make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff plan outings for children to local amenities, libraries and parks. The provider employs a sports coach to deliver weekly sessions for toddlers and older children. However, staff do not always plan and implement the curriculum consistently to support all children's physical development, particularly for those who prefer to learn outdoors. Consequently, some children do not explore a range of physical movements to further extend their physical skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to strengthen the planning and implementation of the curriculum for physical development, with particular regard to the outdoor provision, to help children to explore a range of physical movements and to extend their physical skills further.