Nutwood Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show a willingness to help staff. For instance, when routines of the day change, two-year-old children thrive on the responsibility of helping to tidy away the toys before mealtimes. Children have positive relationships with staff and their peers. For example, one-year-old children laugh and giggle together when they jump up and down on a foil blanket and listen to the noise it makes. Two-year-old children snuggle into staff for a cuddle and reassurance. Children show kindness to others, such as when they pass bowls of potatoes to their friends at mealtimes and take it in turns to serve themselves.

Staff support children to progress in their learning effectively. For instance, when staff read children stories, they show excitement and use different tones in their voice. This helps to engage children. They sit and listen well. Children join in and say words in the story, helping to extend their vocabulary. Children are physically active. Three- and four-year-old children develop strength in their bodies when they use spades safely to help staff to dig soil in the garden. They show excitement when they uncover a toy car and spade in the soil. Children tell visitors that they think the objects have been stuck for 'ever and ever'.

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

• The manager and staff plan a curriculum to help children learn the skills they need for future success. They want children to be as independent as possible. For example, one-year-old children are encouraged to take off and put on their shoes and boots. Staff use their own shoes to show children how to do this. They give children time to complete this task on their own. Older children manage their own clothing and coats independently.
• Staff communicate frequently with parents about their children's progress and daily achievements. Parents comment positively about staff. They say that staff support children to settle well and have helped them to develop in confidence and with their eating habits and social skills.
• Staff encourage children to behave well and reward them for their achievements. Staff clap their hands to praise babies' achievements. They say 'well done' when children work together as a team, for example, when two-year-old children work together to fill cake trays with sugar cubes.
• The manager and staff work with parents to recognise when children need additional support and act promptly. Children benefit from targeted plans that focus on helping them to progress in their development. For example, staff show children pictures of what will happen next to promote their emotional needs and to help them understand when there is a change in the routine of the day.
• The manager uses additional funding effectively to help close any gaps in children's learning, such as their early writing skills. For example, she purchases sand trays to provide opportunities for children to use tools and their hands to make marks in sand.
• The overall support for children's developing communication and language skills is good. For example, children regularly hear and take part in singing and rhyming songs. However, during some planned activities, staff do not always adjust their interactions to meet children's differing abilities. Sometimes, the questions they ask are too advanced for children. Because of this, children do not always respond when they are asked questions. This restricts their thinking skills and learning.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to learn how they can keep themselves safe when they use kitchen equipment. For example, children use safety knives safely to cut up food to make bird feeders. However, staff have not identified ways they can continue to help children to learn about other potential dangers, such as when they use technological devices to access the internet at home.
• The manager tracks the progress that all children make in their development. She identifies that children need further support with their mathematical skills. Because of this, staff plan activities for children, such as matching objects to numbers and learning language that describes size. For example, staff support children to find the correct number of wooden disks to match a written number. They introduce words such as 'big' and 'tiny' when children look for objects.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to make greater use of planned activities to help develop children's thinking skills and learning
• improve staff's understanding of how to continue to help children to recognise further potential risks at home.