Norto5 KIDZ - Burgess Hill

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Babies and children settle well in the warm care of the welcoming staff team. Individualised settling-in sessions support children as they begin the important process of building strong bonds with staff. Babies enjoy their interactions with staff and other children. They delight when older children sing to them and gaze at staff, who talk to them during the closeness of a bottle feed. This shows the effective development of the bonds and understanding of key persons. The manager has a good understanding of how to plan a broad curriculum, based on what children need to learn next and following their interests. She devises this from information gained from parents and staff's observations and assessments.

Children learn to take turns and work together. For example, they receive support to understand when it is their turn to use the small, wooden slide indoors and then when it is their friend's go. Children can explain that they are waiting for their friend to go down the slide, showing that they have learned this concept. Children have good levels of resilience and perseverance. If they accidentally take a tumble, they respond to staff who check if they are alright and persist with bringing the items they want to play with to the garden. Children share their views of the nursery and state, 'I love coming to nursery, it's fun here.' Others explain that they love playing with their friends.

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

• Since the manager has returned to post, she has worked hard to re-establish a strong team and to make effective improvements. She has built staff's confidence in their safeguarding knowledge and put in place systems for the swift referral of concerns. Staff work together to make continual developments, with the manager being open to new suggestions and ideas. This values staff for their input, builds morale and enables worthwhile improvements, supporting good outcomes for children's care and education.
• Staff know their key children well, and there is an effective system in place to enable all staff to understand what children need to learn next. This enables them to make the most from each interaction with children, to help move children on to their next stage in learning and embed skills.
• Staff are perceptive to the needs of children and each other. They understand when to step in to offer support to individual children to enable effective learning to continue. For example, when young children struggle to share, staff gently intervene to guide them. This is successful, as children are then able to work together at their chosen task.
• Children are kind and like to help others. For instance, when staff indicate another child needs something, they seek to find it for them. Children are also caring towards those younger than themselves, recognising that a baby may need their comforter and giving them a kiss on their head.
• Occasionally, staff step in too quickly to answer questions they pose to children. For example, they ask children if they can count objects but then do this for them. Staff also sometimes use the incorrect pronunciation of words, which children then use in their play. These aspects do not always further extend children's understanding of the flow of conversations and how to use the correct pronunciation of words.
• Children have good imaginations and show this in their play. They take great delight in using the resources in the mud kitchen to make pretend ice-creams and mix potions. They explain what they need for their ice-creams, including the topping. Staff extend their learning, such as by asking what they need and how they are going to achieve this.
• Children learning more than one language make good development in their command of English. However, staff do not always explore ways they can embrace children's backgrounds further. This does not extend children's understanding of the wider world. For example, they seek words in children's home language but do not explore their heritage so they can embrace this at nursery to further support children's sense of belonging and awareness.
• Parents receive worthwhile suggestions to support children's learning at home. This includes ideas such as an autumn scavenger hunt and providing a book library. Parents receive up-to-date information about their child's development. Staff hold parents' evenings, use an online system to share observations and assessments, and provide verbal feedback and information about activities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's understanding of giving children time to respond to questions and use the correct pronunciation of words
• embrace children's cultural backgrounds and heritage more effectively to support their awareness of similarities and differences.