Newton Westpark Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff greet children with a smile as they arrive full of excitement ready for the day ahead. Children separate from their parents with ease and explore the learning opportunities that staff have created for them. Leaders and staff have designed an interesting curriculum to ignite children's curiosity. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children in receipt of additional funding, are supported effectively. The key-person system is effective and accurate use of assessment means that gaps in children's learning are swiftly identified. All children make good progress in their learning and development.

Staff model expectations for children's behaviour and routines. For example, staff play a song to indicate it is tidy-up time. Children eagerly work together to tidy up. Staff reward positive behaviour with praise and encouragement. Children know what is expected of them. Overall, they are well behaved and demonstrate positive attitudes to their learning.

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

• The provider has failed to notify Ofsted of a change to the nominated individual and of the appointment of new directors who make up part of the nursery's governing body. The provider took steps to rectify this during the inspection. The provider demonstrated that Disclosure and Barring Service checks for the new nominated individual and for all directors have been conducted. This minimises the impact on children's safety or well-being.
• Staff provide many fun experiences to support children's development. For example, they help children to develop their physical strength and coordination. Children access a safe garden in which they delight as they climb, run, hop and dig. Staff plan activities for children to develop their hand-eye coordination. For example, children cut up ribbons and glue them onto a collage. Opportunities such as these help children to develop skills in readiness for early writing.
• Staff use their knowledge of individual children's interests to plan the environment. However, they do not always organise adult-led group activities well. Occasionally, children are required to wait while resources are organised. As a result, at these times, some children become restless and are not fully engaged in learning.
• Staff mostly support the development of communication and language well. The nursery buzzes with conversations. Children giggle when staff sing familiar songs. They follow the actions and sing along. Children are developing their vocabulary. However, there are times staff do not give children time to respond to questions and requests. This means that children do not always have the opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations.
• At times, staff encourage children to do things by themselves. For example, they support children to put on or take off their coats independently. However, there are occasions when staff do not extend children's growing independence. For example, they intervene too quickly to help younger children to wash paint from their hands. Staff cut up food at lunchtime and they pour drinks for children without first encouraging them to have a go themselves. At times, children who are keen to demonstrate their own skills become frustrated by this approach.
• Leaders recognise the importance of regular professional development and work in partnership with the local authority to access relevant training. They provide staff with supervisory sessions and feedback on their overall practice. Leaders and staff clearly enjoy their work and have developed respectful relationships with each other, children and parents.
• Effective relationships with parents and professionals have a positive impact on children's learning and development. Leaders and professionals share ideas with parents, such as information regarding toilet training, healthy eating and activities to support learning at home. These partnerships are helping children to thrive.
• Staff seize every opportunity to read to children, who eagerly anticipate the rhymes and sounds, such as 'shark' and 'park', in familiar books. Children giggle as they listen to their friend reading silly stories. Staff help children to develop a love of reading.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• organise and plan adult-led activities so all children can fully engage in learning
• give children time to think and respond when engaging in conversations to help extend their communication skills further
• strengthen the delivery of the curriculum to consistently help children develop their independence skills.