Muddy Puddles Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are well settled. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure in the care of staff. Older children confidently speak to the inspector, inviting her to join their games, and pretend to read familiar books to her. From a young age, children are encouraged to make choices and to become independent. They competently put on their coats, take themselves to the toilet and pour themselves a drink of milk or water. They mop up small spills with a paper towel and recall how to safely carry scissors. Children choose what they want to do next and confidently move between activities and the indoor and outdoor areas.

Staff encourage exploratory play and set out inviting resources for children to investigate. For instance, babies develop their sensory skills as they explore trays of coloured rice, flowers and small containers. They scoop rice and listen to the sound of it falling as they pour it out. Babies examine the flowers carefully and concentrate as they pluck the petals. Older children pretend to make 'hot chocolate', using real tea cups, water and tea leaves. They offer the drinks to their friends, warning them, 'Careful, it's hot!', as they blow on their own drink, pretending to cool it down.

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

• The manager has a strong vision for the future of the setting and plans to continue developing and improving the service further. However, she does not currently monitor staff performance incisively enough to promote consistently strong practice across the setting.
• Staff deliver a broad curriculum and plan activities based on children's interests and their knowledge of what children know and can do already. They encourage children to recall previous learning experiences as they introduce activities to build on their skills and knowledge. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They identify when children are in need of additional support and work well with external professionals and parents to promote positive outcomes for all children.
• Parents praise the range of creative and physical activities offered by the 'lovely' staff. They comment on the wide range of materials children use to create their artwork and how proud they are to share what they have made. Parents report how much their children enjoy using the on-site 'soft play' and how they have mastered other new skills, such as riding a bicycle and writing their name, during their time at the setting. They also appreciate staff's suggestions for activities to try at home.
• Staff promote children's speech and language development well. Staff introduce new vocabulary with plenty of repetition and demonstrate the correct pronunciation. Children delight in familiar songs and actions. Babies clap and say
• 'pop' as staff sing a song about pea pods. Toddlers copy staff's actions to make soapy bubbles to a handwashing song. Older children laugh and bounce to a song about 'jumping beans'.
• Children have ample opportunities to be physically active, and they enjoy being outside. They play a limbo game using a skipping rope, climb on large log piles, race their friends and roll hula hoops down the hill. Children delight in releasing butterflies after many weeks of caring for caterpillars and watching their cocoons excitedly. They notice the colours of the insects' wings and wonder if butterflies feel scared the first time they try to fly.
• Staff have a warm, engaging manner with children. They listen with interest to children's ideas and ask questions to extend their thinking. For instance, children transport hay from a sensory tray to give their toy animals something to eat. Staff encourage them to find more animals that like to eat hay and some soil for the toy pigs. Staff name the different body parts of the animals and answer children's questions, such as how pigs feed their piglets.
• Staff use positive phrases to communicate their expectations for children's behaviour. For example, they remind children to use 'kind hands' and say 'be gentle'. However, when children struggle to take turns or be kind, or when they become disruptive, staff do not always employ effective strategies to help children regulate their own behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend opportunities for staff to enhance their professional development and fully embed the arrangements for supervision and coaching in order to promote consistently high-quality education across the setting
• enhance and extend behaviour strategies to promote children's social skills, understanding of emotions and how their behaviour impacts others.