Muddy Boots Morley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The caring staff and leaders are dedicated to supporting children's care, routines and development. Staff know the children in their care extremely well. They promote children's sense of self and belonging. For example, the pre-school children attend a 'graduation' ceremony with the staff, parents and carers. Staff celebrate children's unique character and achievements at this special event. These positive and loving relationships with staff support children to feel confident, happy and settled.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. For instance, at mealtimes, children learn to wait until everyone has been served their food before they start eating. This helps children to develop an understanding of being respectful and patient. Leaders and staff have developed areas of the nursery for children to access calming toys and resources. Staff identify the sensory activities that children enjoy, such as throwing or pushing. They provide resources to allow children to explore these sensory needs in a safe and positive way. These strategies support children to learn how to manage their feelings and behaviour.

Leaders and staff know the importance of repetition to support children's speaking and listening skills. They ensure that children regularly hear repeated and familiar stories, songs and rhymes. Staff introduce new words to children as they play. They link children's play to stories that they have previously heard. This provides children with opportunities to learn and use newly learned words. As a result, children grow their communication skills to good levels.

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

• Staff carry out regular assessments of children's development. They gather information from parents about children's new interests or development at home. Staff then use this information to plan a 'focus week' for each child. They plan targeted and enjoyable learning opportunities and activities based on the children's needs. This cycle of planning for children's learning ensures that all children continue to work towards their next steps in development.
• Staff thoughtfully set up children's play spaces to meet their needs and interests. As a result, children thoroughly enjoy their time at the nursery. They remain consistently motivated in their play and learning.
• Staff ensure that children of all ages receive daily experiences for outdoor play. The outdoor area is planned well so that children receive opportunities to learn how to climb, balance and move in different ways. This supports them to develop their large-muscle skills and coordination.
• Staff swiftly identify when children need further support for their learning or development. They work in close partnership with parents and other health professionals. This helps staff to develop strategies to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For instance, staff show children objects when supporting them to learn new words or a daily routine. This helps to support all children's understanding and communication skills. Staff and leaders regularly review the plans for supporting children with SEND. They use additional funding to provide sensory resources or individual support for children with SEND. This ensures that children with SEND continue to achieve well and work towards their milestones.
• Parents speak glowingly about the support and communication that they receive from the nursery. They report that staff treat the children as individuals. Parents say that they appreciate the personal support also provided by staff and leaders for their own well-being. Leaders ask parents to complete questionnaires each term. This informs leaders about parents' views on the nursery and any improvements that they can make.
• The provider previously notified Ofsted about a breach to staff to child ratios. This means that the provider met their legal responsibility to notify Ofsted of significant events. The provider has taken suitable action to put this right. Leaders have reviewed home time procedures. They have ensured that the supervision of children remains a priority for staff at less busy times of the day. Staff have received guidance and training on carrying out headcounts for children. This promotes their safety when moving around the nursery. There is no further impact on children's safety and well-being.
• Staff report that they enjoy working at the nursery. They say that they receive good support both professionally and for their well-being. Leaders provide focused training to support staff to continue to raise the quality of the provision. However, leaders are still refining and strengthening the methods used to monitor and evaluate the nursery and staff practice. This means that some inconsistencies in staff's practice and areas for development have not yet been fully addressed.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to strengthen the processes for monitoring and evaluating staff practice, to identify any further areas of development and raise the quality of the already good practice to even higher levels.