New Dawn Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and settled, with warm smiles from familiar staff helping to create a welcoming environment. Children are eager to come into the nursery and confidently explore their surroundings. The key-person system is now well established, and staff know children and their families well. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.

Leaders and staff implement a broad and balanced curriculum based on the children's individual needs and backgrounds. Staff support children to gain confidence and independence as they encourage 'helper' roles during routines. Children also learn about the wider community and the people who help us. Staff invite visitors from a variety of professions to the nursery. For example, the fire brigade came to the nursery to teach children about fire safety and their role. Overall, staff help children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), develop the knowledge and skills they need to start school.

Staff support children to behave well. For instance, staff remind children of the rules during the day such as using their 'listening ears' when staff speak to them. Staff also give children appropriate praise when they follow the nursery rules, which helps children learn how they are expected to behave.

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

• The provider has made significant improvements to safeguarding practices since the last inspection. Leaders have a secure knowledge and understanding of child protection reporting procedures. They have developed a system to ensure recruitment records are maintained and available. In addition, they have implemented robust a risk assessment of the nursery environment.
• Staff support children's communication and language development effectively. They repeat back words and sentences correctly and narrate what the children are doing. Staff add new vocabulary and explain the meaning of new words to the children. For example, staff read books that reflect children's current interest in 'building site' and explain what an 'excavator' is. Staff use visual aids to support those who are less confident in their speech to understand the routines.
• All children have ample opportunities to develop their small muscles. Children build on their hand dexterity as they explore a wide range of malleable materials and use pencils and scissors with confidence. This develops their small muscles in preparation for early writing.
• Staff provide children with some activities to support their gross motor skills. Children join in with dancing and yoga sessions. However, on occasion, staff do not consistently include challenging, vigorous and risky play to support children's physical development even further.
• Staff support children's understanding of healthy lifestyles well. Staff work in partnership with parents to ensure that the packed meals children bring are nutritious. Staff ensure children follow robust hygiene procedures, including handwashing. In addition, children learn about the importance of good oral health. Children talk about what causes cavities, recalling what they learned during the visit from a dental nurse.
• Staff interact well with children as they play. They are skilled at following children's interests and extending children's knowledge in the moment. However, staff do not always carefully consider how they plan activities to ensure older children are consistently engaged and challenged. As a result, activities do not always have the maximum impact on supporting their learning.
• Staff implement effective systems to monitor and assess children's development. They quickly identify and provide necessary support to help close gaps in children's learning. Staff support children with SEND to make the best possible progress.
• Leaders have a clear vision for the nursery. Staff report high morale levels. They attend regular meetings with leaders, which ensures that the quality of support for children is consistently good. Staff have attended in-house training on children's behaviour. This training is reflected in how staff manage children's behaviour and support their emotional intelligence.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents compliment the friendly nature of the staff and the learning programme provided. They feel well informed about their children's care and what they are learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on opportunities for vigorous, challenging and risky play to consistently support children's gross motor skills even further
• strengthen the planning of activities to ensure older children are consistently engaged and challenged.