Ninas Nursery Davenport

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's laughter and their eagerness to explore fills the air of this busy and vibrant nursery. Children are happy, content and feel safe. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parents do not enter the nursery. Children blow kisses to their parents and wave them off at the front door. Staff support children's emotional well-being very well and give them encouragement and praise. Children develop strong friendships, behave well and show positive attitudes towards their learning.

Babies giggle with delight while exploring foam, water and sand. Toddlers show fascination while playing ball games outdoors. Pre-school children skilfully discuss the reasons why clouds form and enact roles of a car mechanic. They talk about the materials that are used to make car tyres and help one another to put a new 'engine' into a scooter. Staff promote children's large-muscle skills very well. Children ride bicycles and show good physical dexterity while using climbing apparatus.

Children show a love of reading and sit with their friends to look at their favourite books. Older children attempt to write their names and show good hand-to-eye coordination while using scissors. Children are competent communicators, who develop the necessary skills in readiness for their move on to school.

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

• Self-evaluation is accurate and leaders aspire to be outstanding. They have an absolute conviction that all children will succeed. Leaders strive to remove barriers to learning and provide children with a safe, nurturing and stimulating place to learn.
• Children in receipt of additional funding make good progress. Staff use funding very well to provide children with learning experiences that they may not usually encounter. These include visits to the farm, pantomime and rides on public transport. Parents are also invited on these visits with their children.
• Staff well-being is at the heart of the nursery's success. Leaders present staff with 'golden tickets' to show appreciation for their contributions and hard work. Staff attend a special award ceremony each year, where their achievements are celebrated. Staff morale is high and typical comments include, 'it is a great place to work'.
• A new and ambitious curriculum has recently been introduced across the nursery. In the main, this builds on what children already know and can do. However, leaders are aware that staff working with younger children do not consistently implement what leaders intend them to learn.
• Overall, staff attend various training programmes and are supported to achieve higher qualifications in childcare. However, the current arrangements leaders have to monitor and coach staff is not consistently embedded across the nursery. This means that not all staff receive incisive feedback about their interactions with children to raise their teaching to a higher level.
• The support in place for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is excellent. No stone is left unturned in the pursuit to ensure children with SEND get the support that they rightly deserve. Gaps in learning quickly narrow and children with SEND make good progress.
• Overall, staff have high expectations of children and teach them well about respect, acceptance and tolerance. Children show good behaviour and care towards their friends.
• Care practices are good. Staff follow robust procedures for supporting children's personal needs and teach them well about healthy living. Children talk about the importance of brushing their teeth and keeping hydrated.
• Partnership working is a golden thread that runs throughout this nursery. Links with parents, external professionals and other settings are strong. Parents commend the staff and say that it is a 'wonderful place, where children excel'.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They use various teaching strategies, which enable children to use their home language alongside English. Children develop good speaking skills and quickly gain a good command of English.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff working with younger children to fully understand what leaders intend children to learn
• refine the monitoring and coaching of staff, to provide them with insightful feedback to raise their teaching to a higher level.