N Family Club Whetstone

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, settled and secure at this friendly and welcoming setting. They form close bonds with staff who are caring, gentle and kind. Staff plan strong support for children's personal, social and emotional development. They encourage children to explore their emotions and help to support children to express how they feel. Staff use books and 'emotion' puppets to highlight to children how their feelings can improve and to show them how resilient they are. Staff are good role models. They are respectful and support children to use manners. Older children take turns as they wash their hands before lunch and line up to go outside. Children behave well. They learn to share as they play with their friends and staff provide them with clear expectations and boundaries, helping them to understand what is expected of them.

Staff provide strong support for children's growing independence. Staff encourage children to make their own choices and to have a try. They put thoughtful strategies in place to help children pour their own drinks and blow their own noses. Staff encourage children to zip up their coats, tidy away their toys and put their rubbish in the bin. Children are confident, curious and busy in their play. Staff are happy and positive. They clearly praise children's efforts and ideas and delight in their achievements.

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

• Following several changes of manager since the opening of this nursery, the leadership team has worked tirelessly over recent months. Leaders have worked closely alongside new and existing staff to build a solid foundation on which to further develop the team. This will help to ensure a high quality of teaching and learning for children.
• Managers implement a curriculum based on children's interests and next steps. Staff use their observations and assessments, alongside information provided by parents, to identify progress. Staff plan experiences which engage children and help them to move on to the next stage of their learning.
• Children behave well and show positive attitudes to their learning. They sit and listen to stories. Older children develop good levels of language for speaking and show an interest in literacy. However, the area of mathematics is not planned for as effectively by staff. This means that, although children acquire some maths skills through their play, their development in maths is not as secure.
• Staff offer lots of praise and ask questions to encourage children to think about what they are learning. However, when asking questions, some staff do not always give children enough time to answer. This means children are not always given the opportunity to think about and process the information and respond.
• Healthy meals and snacks are provided by an in-house cook who caters for children's specific dietary requirements. Staff teach children about the importance of keeping themselves healthy through effective hygiene practices such as handwashing and toothbrushing. This helps children to develop effective hygiene practices to keep them healthy and prevent infections.
• Staff support children to learn about festivals and events that are important to the nursery community, and there is a monthly programme of events for families to get involved with. Currently, there are limited opportunities for children to learn about the wider community, such as through trips to the nearby parks, shops and library. This is something that managers have recognised and are working on improving.
• The manager provides staff with effective supervision and ongoing support to help them develop their practice. She observes their practice, holds regular staff meetings and offers further training to build on their skills. Staff comment that they feel supported in their role.
• Partnership with parents is effective. Parents speak highly of the nursery and praise the staff team. They feel well informed of their children's progress. Staff share children's next steps and provide parents with activities to continue their children's learning at home. Parents know who their child's key person is. They have regular opportunities to attend parents' evenings.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop more effective questioning techniques, allowing children more time to process and respond to questions
• provide children with opportunities to access their local community and develop their understanding of the world around them
• develop the mathematics curriculum so that all children develop confidence in early maths.