Odds Farm Park Day Nursery and Activity Day Camps

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident and well settled in this welcoming nursery they are well behaved and follow the good examples set by staff. Staff know the children well and are always on hand to provide cuddles and comfort. Children have many opportunities to practise self-help skills and develop independence. Children learn valuable life skills which prepare them for their next stage of learning. For example, they use real utensils during play and have real fruit and vegetables in role play areas. Children explore and investigate the feel and smell of different food. Staff support children's language acquisition as they comment that onions smell 'strong and make your eyes water' and that they like carrots as they are sweet.

Staff maximise use of the outdoors, children visit the farm daily and learn about the care of, and respect, for animals. They learn about new life as they visit the farm during lambing season. Children become excited as they see the pigs, sheep and donkeys and mimic the sounds they make. Staff share this excitement, and they use this time as a valuable learning experience. For example, children count how many piglets there are. Older children make mud pies with compost and water. They comment on how a mud cake has large, medium and small layers. Children excitedly collect twigs and leaves to add to the mixture and delight in feeling different textures with their hands.

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

• There have been clear improvements since the last inspection. Leaders have addressed the weaknesses identified and continue to evaluate the quality of the provision. They have worked extremely well with the whole staff team and the local authority advisor to raise the quality of teaching and overall care for children.
• The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is now a strength of the nursery. The manager and special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) are keen to identify gaps in children's learning at the earliest opportunity. Staff plan targeted early interventions for children who need to catch up with their peers. Children's individual needs are well catered for, as staff know children very well. Children flourish and quickly achieve personal goals in their development.
• The manager and her staff team organise a curriculum that focuses on developing children's social, communication and physical skills. Staff use assessment well to identify any gaps in children's development and take swift action to close them. Key people work well with each other to support children's smooth transition from rooms within the nursery and when the time comes, for school.
• Staff build strong professional relationships with parents from the outset to help children to settle into the nursery. For example, staff ensure they have a thorough understanding of children's likes, dislikes and abilities before their first day. Parents report that staff are supportive and welcoming and that children enjoy their time at the nursery. However, not all parents receive the information about their children's progress they need to be able to further extend children's learning at home. That said, parents are uniformly delighted with the setting. They are particularly pleased with the emphasis on outdoor play.
• Staff are well supported by the manager and value the support they receive from her. Performance management meetings are in place at the nursery to help staff make continual improvements to their practice. Staff morale is high and teamwork is effective. This means that happy and motivated staff care for children.
• Children are familiar with routines. They follow their peers to line up, ready to go to the farm or into the garden. However, during group and meal times, some children wait for longer than necessary, as staff have not always prepared for these transitions effectively. This means that some children struggle to stay focused and lose concentration.
• Staff now implement positive behaviour strategies. When children need to be receive reminders about the rules, staff explain the reasons behind these. This ensures children understand why the rules are in place and learn how to self-regulate their behaviour. As a result, children know staff's expectations of them and behave well. Children play cooperatively with each other, share and take turns with minimal support.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation and structure of routines and group times to take into consideration the age ranges and individual needs of the children present, to enhance learning opportunities to the highest level
• build on the good partnerships with parents to ensure that all parents receive guidance on how to support their children's learning further at home.