Mulberry Bush Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly greet children and parents as they arrive. Staff engage the children in conversations, which makes children feel valued and welcomed. Staff take a genuine interest in the children and their families. Staff have clear and consistent strategies to support children's behaviour. As a result, children have a clear understanding of the expectations and behave very well.

Children are motivated and eager to learn. They thoroughly enjoy story time, sign-along and singing, and they excitedly ask for more songs. This supports the development of children's communication and language skills. Children's unique personalities are at the heart of what the staff do. They give time and consideration to each child, ensuring that they are inclusive of all children's needs. As a result, no child feels left out regardless of their current capabilities.

Children have opportunities during the day to develop their physical strength. They play games together and use their core strength to build and balance. Children show high levels of engagement while supporting each other to solve problems through trial and error. Parents speak very highly of the nursery, which is a reflection of the commitment managers have placed on working in partnership with them.

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

• Children benefit from a well-thought-out and planned curriculum that incorporates all seven areas of learning with a particular focus on communication and language. Each month, children's learning is based around a book. Each room has a 'vocabulary flower' for the staff. The flower has the words that staff should focus on using and teaching the children that month.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Staff use an online system and face-to-face communication to keep parents informed about their child's progress. Parents speak highly of the staff and feel that they know their children well. They praise the team for the support it gives children to settle in at the nursery. Parents say that their children are happy and safe at the nursery.
• Support for children's communication and language is good. Staff narrate what they do and repeat key words for babies. Staff use sign language to support spoken communication. As the children discover a new book each month, they become very familiar with the story. Children are able to read the story alongside the member of staff reading from the book. This helps to develop children's vocabulary, and the children become confident communicators.
• The key-person system is well established. Detailed information is gathered before children begin at the nursery. For example, staff offer home visits to support the settling-in process and to start creating a bond between the child and their key person. However, when a child's key person is off, other staff do not know what that child should be specifically learning next.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities achieve good outcomes. They build close relationships with their key person. Staff are patient, nurturing and responsive to children's needs. For example, they recognise children's verbal and non-verbal cues while they are playing with the play dough. Children play alongside others and enjoy taking part in the same activities. The staff communicate well with families to ensure that care plans are up to date and that they feel supported at home.
• Children's behaviour is good. They are responsive to what adults ask of them. Staff have clear rules and boundaries that they communicate well to children. For example, when a child lifts a large block up in the air above their head, staff remind the child that it is not safe as it may hit their head or the head of another child. However, sometimes, mealtimes are not altogether sociable occasions, particularly for those children who choose not to eat.
• Leaders have a clear and ambitious curriculum. It is very well used and understood by staff, who all work from the same theme across the nursery. Leaders focus on improving staff's knowledge through best-practice workshops they carry out as well as online and face-to-face courses. Leaders monitor staff's performance through regular supervision sessions and observations in the rooms. Staff feel supported, listened to and valued in the team.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the key-person system so that in the absence of a key person, other staff understand what children need to learn next and can implement this
• support staff to make sure that mealtimes are a sociable time where all children are included and where staff are not solely focused on children eating.