Nurture Day Nursery & Pre School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children have high levels of well-being. They arrive happy and excited to see their friends. Children show they feel safe and secure. They settle quickly and have positive relationships with staff who know them well.

Staff gather pre-school-age children together to start the day. They ask them to recall what they are learning about this week. The children remember what they have learned and say 'a farm'. Staff show the children two different storybooks about a farm. They teach these children about choice and democracy. Staff ask them to stand by which book they would like to read. The children vote for the storybook they would like to hear. They know that their voice is important and feel included.

Leaders have improved how they monitor the implementation of the curriculum to ensure that staff meet children's learning and development needs. Since the last inspection, leaders have introduced peer-on-peer observations to coach and support staff practice. Leaders notice this has made a positive difference in how staff communicate with children. For example, staff use effective strategies to improve babies' communication and language skills. Staff repeat words back to babies and mimic their sounds to strengthen babies' early speaking skills. They give babies time to respond and, as a result, babies begin to learn more words.

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

• There is a well-designed curriculum to support toddlers' personal, social and emotional development. Staff identify what toddlers need to work on next and plan activities and experiences to help them make progress towards these goals. For example, staff play a game with toddlers in the garden and pretend to be animals. They broaden toddlers' understanding of emotions. Toddlers' imagine how animals in the jungle may feel. They use words such as 'happy' and 'scared' to describe the animals' feelings.
• Children are independent. Pre-school-age children wash their hands and work cooperatively to tidy up before lunch. Toddlers find a photo of themselves, place it on the table and sit down to eat. Babies gain confidence when feeding themselves. They persevere with a spoon and develop their self-care skills. Staff praise all children for their efforts.
• Pre-school-age children and toddlers follow instructions well. For example, pre-school-age children hear a song that alerts them it is time to line up and go outside. These children know the rules and routines of the setting. They know they must apply sunscreen and wear a sun hat before they play in the sun. Toddlers listen to staff and know how to keep safe on stairs. They follow staff instructions, hold on to the banister and sit down as they go.
• All children go on walks in the local area and learn more about their community. Staff encourage children to talk about what they have seen. However, staff do not consistently support children to develop their speech and learn correct vocabulary as effectively as possible. For example, toddlers tell staff they saw 'birdies'. At other times, pre-school-age children refer to horses as 'horsies'. Staff repeat and use these words back to the children, who continue to use the incorrect vocabulary afterwards.
• Pre-school-age children develop their finger dexterity. They scoop cereals into their hands and sprinkle the grains using their thumb and index finger. Children enjoy the sensory experience. However, occasionally, staff do not tailor group activities to ensure that all pre-school-age children can contribute to discussions and extend their learning further. For example, at times, the quieter children engage less in group activities and do not receive as much input from staff compared to the more confident children.
• Leaders organise staff to attend training on how to promote children's love of reading. Following this, staff send books and story sacks home. Staff observe that children show a better understanding of story structure. For example, pre-school-age children know that a story has a beginning, a middle and an end. In addition, parents notice that their children sit and look at books for longer at home. They welcome updates from staff about their children's development and how they can further support their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff knowledge and understanding of how to support toddlers' and pre-school-age children's speech so they learn correct vocabulary
• tailor group activities so that all pre-school-age children can contribute to discussions and extend their learning further.