Oaklands Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children, particularly those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), do well at this nursery. Leaders and staff provide a safe environment that is inclusive and stimulating for children. They implement a curriculum that is flexible and allows children to make progress at their own individual pace. Children are very happy. They confidently separate from parents and quickly settle into play and learning. Staff role model good manners, positive language and kind interactions. They support children to learn about sharing in ways appropriate to their age. Children behave well and are developing a good understanding of what is expected of them.

Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills well. They engage in back-and-forth conversations with children, introducing new words and sounds. Babies copy animal names and the corresponding noises they make. Older children speak with confidence about their experiences at home and nursery. They are eager to share their thoughts and opinions. Staff make good use of quiet rooms to help less confident children practise their speaking skills in smaller groups. This helps to boost children's confidence and self-esteem. Children are making good progress and developing some of the skills they need for school.

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

• Leaders plan a well-sequenced curriculum, which builds on children's existing knowledge. Staff understand the curriculum intentions and implement them well into children's play. Ongoing monitoring of children's progress enables staff to identify accurate next steps in development. This helps to ensure that all children are prepared for the next stage of learning.
• Support for children with SEND is well embedded. The nursery staff have a lot of experience with outside agencies and a wealth of knowledge and support strategies to help children. They use what they know to implement targeted learning while children wait for outside professionals. Additional funding is used wisely to benefit the individual child. This helps to narrow attainment gaps and prevents children from falling further behind.
• Staff are kind and nurturing. They get to know children well and are alert to their individual needs and routines. Children form strong bonds with staff, they seek them out for cuddles and reassurance if necessary. This helps children to feel secure at nursery and promotes their emotional well-being.
• On the whole, children are learning about leading a healthy lifestyle. Staff provide nutritious meals, healthy snacks and daily exercise. They offer information for parents about oral health and healthy recipes, to promote good health at home. However, staff do not consistently wash their hands after wiping children's noses. This gives children mixed messages about good hygiene procedures.
• Children are developing good literacy skills. Older children are beginning to identify and write some recognisable letters. Staff read to children with excitement and enthusiasm. They encourage children to remember key words and phrases from books they are familiar with. Children are motivated and eager to join in. This helps them to develop a love of books and strengthens their language development.
• Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to practise their physical skills. Babies show perseverance as they use push-along toys to strengthen their leg muscles, before confidently taking some independent steps. Older children demonstrate good balance and coordination when using the trampoline and climbing equipment. They carefully navigate the different ways they can use the rope swing independently. Daily opportunities to develop their physical skills contribute to children's overall good health.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are very happy with the quality of care provided and compliment the hard-working staff. They receive updates about children's development and information about how they can extend learning at home. Parents contribute to assessments and share information about what children already know and can do. This provides continuity in children's care and learning.
• Leaders are confident and dedicated to the nursery. Staff are happy and feel well supported in their roles. Some procedures are in place for staff supervision and professional development, but these are not yet well embedded. Staff complete some training and receive general feedback on their practice. However, these are not specific enough to improve their skills and knowledge further. Consequently, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of education across the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement good hygiene procedures more consistently and teach children why these are important
• strengthen the procedures for supervision and staff development to help raise the quality of education to a consistently high level.