Owl & Bear Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children settle quickly in this welcoming and friendly setting. Staff enable children to form nurturing relationships with them. This helps children to feel happy and safe. Staff gather detailed information from parents and carers when children first start, to find out what children already know and can do. This enables staff to plan for each child's individual needs.

Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum that helps them to develop good levels of independence. This is embedded from the baby room right through to the pre-school. For instance, the youngest of children are encouraged to pour their own drinks into their beakers at mealtimes and are learning when they need to wipe their noses. Older children see to their own self-care needs and get their own shoes and wellington boots on ready for outdoor play.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They have attended appropriate training which has helped them to be fully consistent with their behaviour strategies. Children's ages and stages of development, and their special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are now planned for and taken into account more effectively. Older children are positive role models for the toddlers. This gives older children responsibility which boosts their self-esteem and well-being. Children are consistently reminded of the rules to keep themselves and others safe.

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

• The nursery manager is friendly, knowledgeable and very supportive of staff and the families who attend. He provides regular one-to-one opportunities for all staff, where he gives feedback to improve and develop their practice. Staff and apprentices speak highly of the support he provides. He has a clear vision for what he wants children to learn and works alongside staff to offer coaching and act as a role model for good practice. This helps him to evaluate the setting well and accurately identify training needs for staff.
• The support and care for children with SEND is highly effective. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) has good links with families and other professionals. The nursery is inclusive and meets the care needs of all the children. All children are making a good level of progress from their starting points.
• Staff provide children with a range of learning opportunities throughout the day. They encourage children's language and communication skills through singing, reading and conversations. Staff ask children open-ended questions, which enables children to share their knowledge and understanding. Children show good levels of engagement in activities. This is due to them being well planned around children's ongoing interests. For example, toddlers are keen to explore the ice and fruit tray as they talk about how it feels and what they can smell.
• Older children enjoy being outdoors. They explore all that it has to offer, including the range of resources to help to develop their gross motor skills. For example, pre-school children take suitable risks when climbing on the 'octagon' and are keen to show their friends how they can hang upside down. Children show they understand turn-taking. For instance, when there is an interest in the basketball hoop, children know to share the ball and let their friends have a go. Babies have their own dedicated area outside so that they can explore safely. However, there are limited opportunities inside for babies to explore their physical development. For example, all babies are currently cruising and walking, but there are limited resources to develop these skills further inside.
• The daily routines are generally well planned with a good balance of child-initiated and adult-focused activities. However, during some transitions, the routine for the toddlers and pre-school children is less organised, such as when getting ready to go outside. On these occasions, some children lose focus and behaviour starts to decline. Learning is less effective at these times.
• Parents feel fully included in their child's education. They appreciate the regular parents' evenings to discuss their children's progress. Staff share ideas with parents through online learning journals so that they can support their child's learning at home. Parents of SEND children praise how much their children have developed since they have been attending. They feel that the manager and staff go above and beyond to not only support their children, but also the wider family. The nursery comes highly recommended by families.
• The setting has strong partnerships with others in the community. For example, transitions to school are well planned. Teachers are invited into the setting to meet the children who are leaving for school. Children have regular opportunities to explore the local environment. For instance, they visit the local shop to buy fruit and milk for snack and attend the local church during harvest time. Parents also share their skills and come in to talk about their occupations and read stories with the children. This develops children's understanding of the wider world and people around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the provision for babies to develop their gross motor skills within the inside environment
• improve the organisation of transition times so that children remain positively engaged in purposeful learning.