Morecambe Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders are aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's emotional well-being. The introduction of a useful 'well-being area' is helping children to gain a sense of what the nursery is like before they start. Relationships between staff and children are positive. Children are happy and settled. They enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. Children are incredibly sociable and are beginning to form special friendships with one another. They communicate kind gestures, for example, they say 'it's nice to meet you', when talking to visitors at the nursery. Children show a great deal of respect for their friends and take turns without prompt during play.

The dedicated staff aim for children 'to achieve the very best start'. They encourage babies to explore their surroundings and move in a variety of ways. Babies move their whole bodies to sounds that they hear, such as those created by bells and shakers. Younger children recall familiar songs and demonstrate their increasing confidence when singing these aloud for everyone to hear. Older children enjoy helping with tasks, such as making dough. They willingly take part in daily exercise sessions and follow instructions well. Children with special educational needs and/ or disabilities (SEND) ask appropriate questions, such as 'what is your name', to find out information. They comment on aspects of their natural world, such as the weather.

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

• Staff spend quality time engaging with children. They grasp opportunities to build on children's early mathematical skills as these arise. For example, during water play, staff challenge children to see who can catch the most fish. Children actively compete and race to catch as many fish as they can. They take time to count the number of fish that they have collected and compare the two groups. Children correctly recognise that the groups have equal amounts. They share their good knowledge of this by saying 'we both won'.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff keep parents informed about their children's learning and progress. The introduction of the new 'lending library' is supporting parents to build on their children's early reading skills at home. Parents say that 'staff are supportive' and that 'children talk fondly of all staff'.
• The caring staff take effective action to support children who find it more difficult to control their emotions. Staff use a gentle and sensitive manner to talk to children about how they are feeling. They enable children to access quieter areas, to help them to develop a sense of calm. Children are beginning to recognise the impact that their actions have on others. For instance, they instantly say, 'I'm sorry' when they accidentally bump into others during play.
• Staff ensure that children with SEND receive the early help that they need. They liaise with parents and other professionals and thread advice into children's individual learning plans. Staff make time to explain what is happening now and next. This is supporting children to prepare for any changes to their routine. Additional funding is used well to close any gaps in children's learning.
• Overall, staff support children's early language development well. For example, during play with ice, staff introduce language, such as 'mushy' and 'melting', to help to broaden children's breadth of vocabulary. However, this is not consistent practice from all staff working with babies. At times, staff use informal language, such as 'ta' and 'handies', when talking to babies. This means that babies do not consistently hear the correct pronunciation of words.
• Staff teach children about the world around them. They encourage children to quietly look out for birds, such as 'Rocky the robin', when playing outdoors and children delight when they see them. Children adopt a sense of community spirit. They gladly take part in events, such as a 'reindeer dash', to help to raise much needed funds for local charities.
• Leaders ensure that staff undergo regular supervision sessions. They take action to reduce the workload, to help to relieve any pressures on staff. Staff complete a range of training to promote children's safety and welfare. However, professional development does not focus equally on helping staff to extend their good teaching practice, to support children to make higher rates of progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop a more consistent approach when modelling language, to help babies to hear and use the correct pronunciation of words from the onset
• strengthen the focus for professional development and help all staff to gain an even greater knowledge of how to support children's learning and development further.