My Nursery (UK) LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel safe and secure as they are greeted into the warm and welcoming nursery. They show confidence as they make choices in their play, selecting their favourite activities. Children are supported to develop their small-muscle skills as they explore the items in the water tray. They carefully scoop up the water and fill containers, skilfully emptying them into smaller syringes. They learn how to press the plunger on the syringe and giggle as they squirt the water onto the fence.

Children are helped to learn about the world around them, as they plant spring seeds. They scoop up compost and fill planters, finding out about what a plant needs to grow as they carefully water the seeds. Children excitedly search for Easter eggs in the garden, working together with their friends. They exclaim, 'I've found one!' as they hold the egg up, triumphantly.

Babies are supported in their sensory play as they delve into sand and carefully examine the feel and texture of it. Babies explore the inviting area outdoors. They use their large-muscle skills to walk over a wooden bridge, balancing carefully. They watch intently as bubbles are blown and use their fingers to burst the bubbles. Babies are given large brushes to help them to develop their small-muscle skills. They dip the brushes into water and make meaningful marks on paper.

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

• Staff know the children very well. They plan learning to meet children's individual needs. The manager ensures that the curriculum is ambitious and builds on what children know. This helps children to make progress across all areas of learning.
• Overall, children's language development is supported well. Older children join in with 'what's in the box' activities. They take it in turns to select pictures of characters from familiar songs and join in enthusiastically with the words. However, sometimes staff working with babies do not give them enough time to process and respond to questions they ask. This does not help extend and strengthen their thinking skills.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that children receive swift support. Staff use their knowledge on each child to plan and implement activities that helps children with SEND to achieve the best possible progress.
• Parents are highly complimentary about the staff and management. They comment that the staff provide 'trustworthy and supportive' care. Parents are given daily feedback on their child's progress and they state that the knowledgeable staff help to prepare their children for school.
• Staff playfully interact with children. They use questions to find out what children already know and can do. However, children's learning is not always extended to further develop their understanding of mathematics during their spontaneous play.
• The skilled and experienced management team is passionate about driving improvements. The team uses detailed plans to continuously reflect on the provision and highlight areas that need further development. For example, most recently they have improved their provision in the outdoor area, enhancing the resources and activities available to children.
• Children benefit from experiences in the local community. For example, they regularly visit a local care home for the elderly in the area. Children interact with the residents, building relationships and communicating with them. This helps children to recognise diversity in their community and learn about the wider world.
• The manager and staff ensure that children's ideas are listened to and valued. For example, they have created a children's council, made up of a group of pre-school room children. Children are helped to make decisions at nursery, such as which additional experiences to have and what healthy foods to have on the menu. This gives children a voice, and allows staff to understand what children like and dislike about their nursery.
• Staff well-being is a priority for the manager. Staff benefit from frequent supervisions that help them to feel valued and happy at nursery. They confirm that they feel secure and happy in their roles. Staff training needs are highlighted at every supervision. This has a positive impact on extending the staff knowledge of child development in early years.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enable staff to provide enough time for babies to process and respond to interactions, to extend their vocabulary and thinking skills
• support children to develop their understanding of mathematics further during spontaneous play.