Nuffy Bear Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff form trusting relationships with children. They regularly give cuddles to babies who are settling to reassure them. Staff ask children how they are feeling and provide an area where they can relax and sit quietly. They help children to learn language to enable them to speak about their emotions and how they feel.

Children have a positive attitude to learning. They concentrate for long periods, focusing on the task at hand. Staff provide good levels of interaction to support children's learning and ask questions to teach children how to problem-solve for themselves. Children learn about other cultures through a range of exciting activities. For instance, they taste noodles and learn how to say 'Happy New Year' in Chinese during celebrations for the Chinese New Year.

Children's physical development is well promoted. They climb on trees and up the steps to the climbing frame. Children practise their small-muscle skills. They use scissors to cut ribbons, mould play dough to make cakes and cut up vegetables using a knife. Staff encourage children to be independent. At mealtimes, children set the table, learn to hold their knife and fork correctly, pour their drinks and pass the food around to their friends. The staff have introduced 'hygiene stations' where children are encouraged to blow their nose, put tissues in the bin and sanitise their hands from a young age.

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

• Senior leaders and managers have successfully reviewed staff practices and the organisation of the environment since the last inspection. They have provided focused training for staff, which has enabled staff to improve the quality of their interactions with the children and enhance their knowledge and skills.
• Staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of safeguarding. They make a risk assessment of the environment and the activities provided to ensure children are safe, for example when they take the children to their swimming lessons at the health club next door. Staff deployment is effective. They supervise children well to ensure they can either see or hear them at all times. Staff communicate effectively with each other to ensure they are vigilant when moving from one area of the room to another to ensure children's safety.
• Staff provide a varied and interesting early years curriculum that incorporates all areas of learning. They take account of how different children learn and their interests to offer a wide range of activities, indoors and outdoors. The staff know the children well. They regularly assess children to identify any gaps in their development and focus on the skills they need to learn or achieve.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills effectively, including children who speak English as an additional language. In the baby room, they use lots of prompts, such as puppets and pictures, to support story time and singing songs. All children are invited to use the nursery library, where they borrow a book to take home and share it with their families. Staff help to extend children's vocabulary. For instance, during science experiments, children learn new words, such as 'lava', 'erupt' and 'evaporate'.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. Staff monitor the children and work closely with parents and other professionals to provide the targeted support required. Staff prepare all children for the transition to school. They invite teachers to the nursery to visit the children who will be moving to their class. Staff provide photo books for children with SEND to help them become familiar with their new school.
• Parents are happy with the care and education provided. They confirm the staff are friendly and they feel their children are safe while in the setting. All parents say they are well supported by the staff who care for their children. The setting uses an online app to communicate with parents, along with daily verbal feedback. However, on occasions, parents feel that the level of detail provided to them when they collect their child is not consistent and they do not know enough about the early years curriculum provided.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the information provided to parents about their child's progress and care, ensuring consistency, and provide them with more detail about the early years curriculum and how it is delivered.