New Mind Nursery LTD

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide the children with a warm and welcoming environment. They know the children well and are attentive to their needs. The children settle quickly when they arrive and feel safe as they happily explore the engaging environment that staff have prepared. They have developed close bonds with the staff. For example, the children enjoy a reassuring cuddle with staff before continuing to interact with their friends.

The children particularly like acting out different situations as they play with friends in the role-play area. They play shops and take turns being the shopkeeper, pressing the buttons on the till. Staff support children to learn about the world around them. For instance, the children dress up as doctors and use the stethoscope to listen to each other's heartbeats. Staff provide the children with a wide range of experiences that engage them in imaginative play.

Staff plan a focused curriculum that helps children to make strong progress in their learning and development. They provide opportunities for children to learn how to manage their feelings and emotions. For instance, the children use various tools to fill buckets with sand as they build sandcastles. When the sand collapses as it comes out of the bucket, staff demonstrate how to pat the sand down to make it firm, ready to turn out. Staff make good use of praise to encourage the children to keep trying. There is great excitement when the sandcastles come out in one piece. The staff help children build resilience as they negotiate challenges in their play.

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

• Children benefit from time spent outside and are keen to explore the inviting outdoor play space. The staff teach children about the importance of exercise. For instance, they provide children with opportunities to develop their strength and coordination as they climb the slide and ride tricycles to enhance their physical skills.
• Staff plan a variety of experiences to help children develop their social skills. For example, children enjoy playing games, such as hide and seek, with staff and peers. There is great excitement and laughter as they find their friends hiding in the playhouse. Staff assist children in learning games with rules so that they can join in with group activities. The children are kind and play well together as they learn to share and take turns.
• Staff teach children about the importance of good hygiene routines. They identify opportunities throughout the day to help children develop their independence in preparation for the next stage of their lives. For example, children wash their hands and talk about the importance of washing the germs off their hands before eating. At snack time, the children are eager to help cut up fruit and pour their milk. The staff support the children in learning how to make healthy choices.
• The staff offer children a good range of adult-led and child-focused activities that engage and stimulate their curiosity. For example, the children talk about the feel of the salt and flour as they make play dough. Staff support children's language skills as they introduce some descriptive words such as 'soft' as they talk about the flour. The children comment that the salt looks like snow. However, there are times during more adult-led activities when staff are slightly disorganised and not prepared for activities to start. During these occasions, children may be left waiting and can become restless.
• The provider is dedicated to improving the nursery and has addressed all actions set from the previous inspection. For instance, all staff have undertaken paediatric first aid and food hygiene training. The provider has in place secure supervision and monitoring procedures to support staff in their roles. Staff know their key children well and plan a curriculum that focuses on their next steps in learning. However, there are occasions when staff do not consistently extend the knowledge and skills of most-able children to help further expand on what the children already know.
• Staff are aware of the importance of working with parents to support all children. They have established a good two-way exchange of information to support parents. For example, staff talk with parents at drop-off and collection times, send out newsletters and provide photos of activities the children have been engaged in to support home learning. Parents are very happy with the support they receive from the nursery staff.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve daily routines to reduce unnecessarily long waiting periods for children
• support staff to recognise when to provide further challenge for the most able children's learning to extend their skills and knowledge.