Next Generation Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build strong, sensitive relationships with children, who are happy, settled and behave well. Children are confident and show good levels of self-esteem. They are encouraged to be independent. Children choose the songs they wish to sing at circle time and where they wish to play. This gives them a sense of purpose within the nursery. Children enjoy joining in with action songs and rhymes. They remain focused, and this helps them develop their communication skills. Staff model good language and praise children for their efforts during play. Children speak with clarity and enthusiasm. They shout out what happens next in familiar stories. Staff use 'book of the week' to sequence children's understanding of literacy. They recognise when children need extra support with their speaking and ensure they embed strategies that help increase their skills swiftly. Children make good progress from the start.

Children enjoy healthy foods at nursery. They sit together and chat among themselves and with staff, showing good social skills. Staff help them learn about different fruit and how it helps them become 'big and strong'. Children learn to negotiate the uneven land in the forest area outside. This helps them enhance their physical development and core strength. Children are supported by staff, if required, to ensure they are safe and do not fall over. Staff set up balancing beams to help support balance even further and encourage children to take risks during play as they climb carefully.

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

• Leaders recruit and build a high-quality staff team that is passionate about supporting children. However, at times, staff are not deployed effectively within the nursery to ensure they best meet all children's needs consistently. For example, multiple staff spend their time with children who are happy and engaged in play, rather than supporting those staff who are helping new children settle into the nursery. This occasionally means some children become upset as they do not always receive the attention they immediately need.
• Staff have a good understanding of the curriculum and what they want children to achieve as they move through nursery. They use good quality interactions with children to help them explore the range of resources on offer. However, some staff do not use strategies to stretch children's development further during play. For example, they ask closed questions in quick succession. As a result, children do not always have time to answer and their thinking is not probed to support their learning.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive good support. Any gaps in children's learning are quickly identified and referred to external agencies for swift intervention and strategies. Children continue to catch up and keep up with their development. This helps them remain integrated within the nursery and join in with planned activities. Children value one another and support each other's needs during play.
• Parents are happy with the communication and information they receive from their child's key person. This helps them continue their children's learning at home and become aware of any strategies to help support them further. Parents are pleased with the range of activities their children experience, with particular regard to the outdoor space where their children develop their exploration and physical skills.
• Children are supported to develop their awareness of other people through their interactions with individuals from the local community, other families and a range of resources that represent diversity. This helps children prepare for life in modern Britain, learning how to accept and value others.
• Children use mathematical skills during play. They count and match with coloured dinosaurs on picture cards. Furthermore, children build with sand and practise emptying, filling and stacking. Younger children explore sensory activities that help them feel calm, and they start to explore colours, shapes and textures.
• Children greet each other with enthusiasm and kindness. They show their friends where to come and play and they join in with their peers with ease. Children have very good relationships with each other and respect one another. Young children take their friend's hands if they are unsure or upset and say, 'I'll help you.'
• Leaders have a good oversight of the setting. They know the areas they wish to develop further to have the biggest impact on all children that attend. They support staff's learning and emotional well-being. As a result, staff are happy and motivated to provide good care and teaching to children. Children are well looked after and receive a high-quality curriculum.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff are consistently deployed effectively, utilising their individual strengths, to help meet the needs of all children
• strengthen coaching and training for all staff to help increase their support for children's thinking skills during play to expand their learning further.