Paint Pots Preschool & Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this warm and welcoming nursery. Staff know children well and display secure, nurturing relationships with them. Babies have good bonds with their key person. They receive lots of cuddles and reassurance to help them to settle. Older children bounce into the nursery with happiness. They wave goodbye to their parents and hang up their belongings. They immediately run in and seek out friends to play with.

Children benefit from a fun and stimulating curriculum to support their individual needs. Staff identify what children need to learn next and then plan a suitable range of learning experiences. Children show high levels of enthusiasm as they make use of all the interesting resources. For example, children talk about how dinosaurs 'squish squash' on paint covered bubble wrap. They giggle with delight and invite friends over to join in with them.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They are good role models and set clear expectations for children. They support them to resolve any minor conflicts swiftly. Children display kindness towards their friends. For example, they pass one another different coloured chalk so they can make a caterpillar as colourful as possible. Staff praise children for their efforts, causing them to smile.

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

• The manager has a robust curriculum in place that staff understand and implement well. They plan a broad range of interesting activities that inspire and motivate children. For example, staff provide an activity about healthy eating. Children chop up fruit, using knives with care. Overall, children's behaviour is good but on occasion children struggle to maintain concentration in large-group activities. At these times, staff are not fully effective in supporting children to gain the skills they need to sit, listen and engage well.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress. Staff recognise when children need additional support. They work effectively with external agencies and local schools to support children's learning. Staff skilfully adapt activities as appropriate to ensure that all children have access to the same opportunities. For example, staff use simple sign language to ensure children can understand instructions effectively.
• The manager ensures that she uses additional funding appropriately to further support children's learning and development. For example, she uses funding to provide additional sessions for children. This allows staff to work on a one-to-one basis with children and provide the interventions they may need.
• Staff support babies and toddlers to develop their independence skills. They encourage them to feed themselves and to experience different foods. Staff provide them with daily opportunities to engage in messy play, such as with sand and painted spaghetti. Babies use low level furniture to pull themselves up to eagerly head over to messy activities. Staff model language by introducing new words, such as 'sticky'. This helps to develop young children's language skills.
• Older children enjoy playing with modelling dough. They are quickly involved and excitedly talk about what they are making. Children learn new vocabulary as they discuss how the dough feels, using words such as 'textured'. Staff ask purposeful questions to children to extend their learning. However, on occasion staff do not give children sufficient time to think or respond appropriately to questions.
• The manager monitors practice honestly and effectively. She recognises strengths and weaknesses in practice, and relays this back to staff. The manager regularly reviews the nursery to ensure it is stimulating and fun for all children. She places a high priority on staff updating their knowledge. They attend regular training on a variety of topics, such as recent training on promoting children's oral health. This helps staff to provide the best possible care to children.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and particularly of the kind and caring staff. Staff work in partnership with parents to continue to support children's learning at home. For example, staff share home-learning ideas with parents through regular posts on their online journal. Children can also borrow story books to share with their parents at home. This supports the continuity of children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's skills in giving children enough time to think about and reflect on questions asked, to best support their learning
• support staff to develop strategies to help children remain interested and involved during group activities.