Moorgate Daycare Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make close bonds with the staff who care for them. Staff greet children by their names and they welcome them into the setting. Children show how they are independent. They know that they need to wash their hands before meals and they clear away their own plates. They choose what they want to play with and explore the environment with confidence.

Children show curiosity and are imaginative. They make a train from large building blocks and pretend to travel up a mountain. Children become interested in the world around them. They listen outdoors for new sounds and look up into the sky to see what they can see. Staff use these opportunities to help children to increase their vocabulary. For example, staff talk to children about what they can see and what they can hear. They introduce new words, such as 'aeroplane' and 'engine'. Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills.

Children start to show an interest in books from an early age. They can turn the pages and point to the pictures. Staff support this by reading to children and describing the pictures in the book. Children clap in celebration as they count the animals on the page. Children enjoy singing songs and familiar rhymes. They join in with staff as they sing the words and do the actions to 'The wheels on the bus'.

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

• Staff support children to develop their mathematical skills. They use an activity with coloured bears to help children learn how to sort them into categories of colours and sizes. Children are starting to develop an understanding of positional language. Staff model language such as 'on top' and 'underneath'. Children are able to follow instructions and confidently place objects where they are asked to.
• Staff observe children to see what they know and can do. They use this to plan activities to develop children's skills. However, teaching is not always focused on building on children's existing skills. Occasionally, activities for a very small number of children do not take into account what they already know and can do.
• Staff promote positive behaviour. They praise children for saying 'please' and 'thank you'. They encourage children to share with their friends and to be kind to each other. For example, staff help children to recognise when another child is upset. Staff talk to children about their feelings to help them to understand emotions.
• Managers are focusing on the development of children's social skills following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff plan activities that they know children have an interest in. This helps children to be confident in the environment. Staff talk to children while they are changing their nappies or feeding them. Children feel safe and secure with staff who know them well.
• Staff build good relationships with parents. They find out important information when children start at the setting. For example, they ask about allergies and ensure that children's needs are well catered for. Parents describe feeling that their children are safe and well cared for.
• Managers have a clear vision of what they want children to learn. They describe what they want children to know and do by the time they move on to the next stage in the setting. However, a small number of staff are not clear about how teaching helps children with their next steps in learning. This is because the existing arrangements to check the performance of staff are not yet embedded enough to fully help all staff to understand how to teach children new skills and knowledge across the whole curriculum. That being said, managers are aware of this and are taking steps to improve supervision sessions.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. They are able to access the setting and the opportunities that staff provide for them. Staff recognise when children need extra help. They communicate with parents about this. Staff are prompt at seeking extra support from outside agencies. Children with SEND are learning new skills alongside their peers.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that information about what individual children know and can do is consistently used to plan activities that are well matched to their next stage of development
• further develop existing supervision processes to ensure there is an even clearer focus on what and how children are taught.