Paradise Park Children's Centre Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are safe and happy at the nursery. They arrive with big smiles on their faces and go into the nursery excited about the day ahead. Parents value the warmth of the staff. Staff build trusting relationships with children. Children approach them for comfort and reassurance or to enthusiastically share their ideas.

Children focus well on the variety of activities on offer. They play very well with their peers. Children make the most of exploring the beautiful garden. For example, they 'cook' in the sandpit, climb over ramps and climbing frames, balance along beams and learn to pedal on bikes. This helps children to make good progress in all areas of their development, having fun as they go. Children learn about nature through observing the snails and frogs, and feeding and caring for them. This helps them understand how to look after the environment around them.

Children behave well. They understand the expectations that staff have for them. Children receive warm praise from staff for the good choices they make. They copy staff's positive interactions. Children learn to speak respectfully to each other, take turns and be kind to their friends.

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

• The manager is passionate about giving every child a good start in life. She has designed a clear programme of learning. Staff carefully consider how they can use children's interests to plan activities that support children in achieving their next steps in learning. This means that children are well prepared for the next stage on their learning journey, such as school.
• Staff provide activities which help children learn to take risks safely. For example, they encourage children as they balance along blocks of various sizes by saying, 'You can do it'. This helps children to grow in confidence, and to understand their bodies and all the things they can do.
• Staff plan carefully to support children to develop their physical skills. Babies crawl over a ramp, cruise around furniture and begin to walk. Toddlers and pre-school children climb over climbing frames, push wheelbarrows and collect sticks to mix mud pies in the toy kitchen. This helps to improve their gross-motor skills. Children paint, squeeze play dough and manipulate small parts. This helps them to strengthen the muscles in their hands.
• Staff have high-quality interactions with children. For example, in the baby room, staff make good use of repetition and comment throughout the day on what children are doing. When babies finish their lunch, staff repeat 'finished' and babies attempt to copy this. As pre-school children and toddlers hunt for dinosaurs amongst shredded paper, staff talk with them about the 'bumpy' and 'sharp' feeling of the dinosaurs. This helps children to build their vocabularies.
• The manager and staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They work well with other professionals and use strategies recommended by them to support these children. This ensures that every child makes good progress.
• Staff confidently explain the progress their key children make and what they need to learn next. They plan successfully to help children achieve these steps in development. This leads to children making good progress from their individual starting points in learning.
• The manager ensures that effective systems of supervision and training are in place to support staff. She encourages staff to make progress in their careers through encouraging them to participate in many different professional development opportunities. For example, staff are encouraged and supported to complete their level 3 qualification. This has a positive impact on outcomes for children.
• The manager and staff build good relationships with parents. Parents receive regular feedback on their child's progress and how they have been during the day. However, on occasion, communication with parents is not consistent. For example, if a member of staff is absent for a prolonged period of time, sometimes the manager does not inform parents of their child's replacement key person soon enough.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen parent partnerships through high-quality communication with parents.