Nursery Rhymes Children's Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a calm and nurturing environment at this nursery, which enables children to feel safe and secure. Staff build very trusting relationships with children. They know the children extremely well and are attentive to their needs. Children are very confident to explore and show positive attitudes to their learning.

Children enjoy their time in the outdoor area and have lots of opportunity to explore in the fresh air. Staff are highly vigilant, and they teach children the importance of managing tasks. For example, children safely manoeuvre across the balancing beams and jump off blocks. Children have a can-do attitude and understand their own physical capabilities.

Children's communication and language development is a strong feature of the nursery. Staff watch what children are doing and, then, ask questions or rephrase their language. They encourage children to actively listen and take part in discussions. They share books with parents from their lending library and help parents understand the importance of reading from an early age.

Staff are good role models, and they give consistent messages to children about their behaviour. Children understand the rules and boundaries of the nursery. As a result, children behave well and show high levels of respect. For example, they readily share resources with their peers and patiently wait for their turn.

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

• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to successfully develop their communication and language skills. Babies enjoy picking out props to sing nursery rhymes, and they smile and giggle as they join in with actions. Older children show a love of books and take every opportunity to sit in the reading areas and share them with the staff. For example, they talk about the characters of the fairground book and share real life experiences with their friends. This helps them to develop a wide vocabulary.
• Staff talk confidently and extensively about their key children, including their current stage of development and the next steps in their learning. However, on some occasions, staff do not always focus on precise learning intentions for the activities they provide. Therefore, they do not fully capture children's interest and support them to maintain high levels of concentration.
• Staff use consistently good modelling and give messages to support children's growing understanding of good personal hygiene skills. They regularly discuss the importance of hygiene to stay healthy, including oral health. For instance, staff gently remind children to wash their hands after blowing their noses and after using the bathroom. As a result, children are developing their independence skills.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are extremely pleased with the progress their children make at the nursery. Staff fully involve parents in their child's learning. This includes sharing ideas and resources, such as sharing healthy food recipes and books from the lending library. This supports parents to extend children's learning at home.
• The manager and staff are very quick to identify children who require early intervention and additional support. They build positive partnerships with parents to reassure and support them during these sensitive times. These children receive exceptional individual care and attention, and they are fully included and encouraged to be involved in all activities. As a result, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) make very good progress and have support in place, ready for school.
• Leaders have a clear vision for the future of the nursery. They use regular observations and supervision meetings to give staff support and help improve the quality of provision. They continue to strive to improve consistency in staff practice. However, they do not always analyse the impact of training or recognise when some staff need further help to upskill their knowledge.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's knowledge of the curriculum intent so that they are clear on the skills and knowledge they want children to gain from all experiences
• look more closely at the impact of staff training, in order to help recognise when staff may need further help to upskill their knowledge.