MonkeyMoos Huntley Wharf

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop strong bonds with staff, who recognise and respond to their needs with kindness and respect. Where some children need extra support in settling into the nursery, staff recognise and respond to the relationships younger children need to help them feel safe and secure. For example, babies snuggle in for cuddles with staff as they get ready for sleep time. The focus on children's emotional well-being is a priority for all staff. This has a positive impact on the progress children make in their social development. Children behave well. They understand the need to share and take turns with friends as staff help them learn to value and respect the differing needs of each other. Staff offer lots of praise and encouragement. They acknowledge children's achievements, contributing to their self-esteem.

Leaders and staff share a vision for children's learning. They offer a broad curriculum with activities that engage and motivate children to learn. Staff capture opportunities to help children learn through self-chosen play. For instance, toddlers learn how to make modelling dough as they mix paint, flour and water. Pre-school children sit for story times as staff help them to think about and share their ideas of how they might feel if they were looking for bears. Children develop good attention skills and concentrate well in activities that interest them. All children make good progress from their starting points.

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

• Leaders and staff have worked hard to address the actions raised at the last inspection. A shared vision for creating and maintaining good standards of care and learning is a key ethos for all staff. The team works well together. Staff say that they enjoy working at the nursery and feel respected and valued in their roles. Staff benefit from effective oversight of leaders to support their knowledge, skills and teaching practice. This contributes towards ensuring children receive good-quality early years care and education.
• Children develop good independence skills, as staff promote this well. From the outset, staff teach children to manage some age-appropriate routines for themselves. For instance, babies learn how to feed themselves with spoons as staff encourage and support their early coordination skills. Toddlers learn how to wash their hands before they eat and the importance of drinking water to rehydrate themselves after active play. Pre-school children take great pride in getting themselves ready to go outside. They learn to fasten zips on coats and put on their hats and coats to keep themselves warm. Staff offer lots of encouragement and support as they recognise the value these independent skills have for children, including in readiness for their next stage in learning.
• Staff teaching is good. Leaders offer training and support to staff in a meaningful way, focusing on priorities for the children in their care. For instance, staff who work with babies use new knowledge from training to consider how resources are used to support their physical development. Staff plan activities that take account of children's interests. They check and monitor the progress children make. However, leaders recognise the new staff team members are still embedding the implementation of the curriculum to focus more precisely on what they want children to know or to be able to do next.
• Staff maintain a safe environment for children. They ensure children are supervised as they play indoors or outdoors. Staff take the time to teach children safe routines to help them learn about their own personal safety. For instance, children understand the reasons why they sit to eat and the importance of walking indoors. Staff maintain good hygiene routines when serving food. They teach children the importance of maintaining their own health. For instance, toddlers learn how to wipe their own noses, disposing of tissues and washing their hands after these routines. Staff support children's good health effectively.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents speak positively about staff and say that they feel children are happy and safe in the nursery. Staff use online systems to share key information, including activities and key achievements. Parents recognise the skills children have developed since starting nursery. However, not all parents feel they receive clear information about how they can further support children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed staff's understanding of curriculum intentions to enable them to focus more precisely on what they want children to learn next
• strengthen how information is shared with parents about the skills their children are developing, to help parents support and extend their children's learning at home.