New Beginnings Childcare Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff have developed an effective key-person system that helps to ensure that children settle swiftly, form strong attachments and are ready to learn. Staff gather detailed information when children first start at the nursery and skilfully use this information to help children transition into nursery life. Staff consider children's emotional needs and offer an abundance of praise and encouragement, cuddles and reassurance. They help children to understand what is expected of them. For example, they offer gentle reminders to use 'walking feet' when indoors and encourage turn-taking and sharing. This supports children to behave well and to develop high levels of self-esteem and a strong sense of belonging.

Staff plan a wide range of interesting activities that take into account children's individual learning needs and interests. Opportunities for babies and young children to be physically active and develop their emerging language skills are supported well throughout the intended curriculum. Pre-school children develop essential skills, such as listening and attention, concentration and independence, in readiness for school. There is a strong focus on children's personal, social and emotional development, in particular, developing firm friendships and working alongside others. Children demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and secure in this warm and welcoming nursery.

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

• Leaders have successfully addressed the weaknesses identified at the last inspection to ensure that there are no breaches to requirements. They have welcomed support from the local authority and have made changes that impact positively on children's care, learning and development. For example, there is now a clear curriculum that focuses on building strong foundations for children's future learning.
• Staff are committed to providing learning opportunities that ensure all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, develop the essential skills needed for their next stage of learning. Staff work closely with outside agencies to provide children with targeted support. As such, all children enjoy their learning. They are eager to participate in activities and show enthusiasm and confidence to try new things. Children are making progress from their starting points.
• Overall, teaching is good. Staff are attentive, playful in their approach and interact well with children. Staff demonstrate new skills to children, use repetition, ask questions and create opportunities for children to recall their previous learning. However, occasionally, staff do not recognise opportunities to extend and challenge children's learning further. This means that sometimes children are not supported to make the progress they are capable of.
• Children are developing a love of stories, songs and rhymes. Staff share carefully considered titles with children to help enhance their communication and language skills. Staff understand the benefits of reading to children, and storytelling is integral to the nursery's routines. Children handle books with care. They seek out their friends to share their favourite stories with. They turn the pages independently and excitedly talk about what they see.
• Staff promote children's literacy skills well. They understand sequential learning, and as such, children are supported to develop the muscles in their hands in readiness for writing. Children are encouraged to use pipettes as they explore paint. Staff model how to squeeze the pipette to draw up the paint. Children enjoy making marks. Young children explore 'bingo dabbers', and older children use chalks and pencils. These experiences support children's emerging literacy skills.
• Staff are deployed effectively and supervise children well. Risk assessments are used to ensure that children are able to play in a safe and secure environment. Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe. For example, children understand not to bang mirrors, to handle real-life items in the home corner with care and to close the gate to their playroom. Children learn the consequences of their actions, responsible decision making and acquire essential skills for later in life.
• Newly implemented supervision arrangements for staff continue to be embedded. Plans to further develop the process for robustly monitoring staff practice are still in their infancy. Staff do not yet receive detailed and precise feedback regarding their teaching practice so that they can improve their interactions with children. This influences the quality of education that children receive. That said, leaders are fully committed to strengthening their management systems to help raise the quality of education to a higher level.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to recognise opportunities to extend and challenge children in their learning so they are supported to make even better progress
• embed arrangements for staff supervision that includes precise feedback for staff so they can further improve their teaching skills.