Park Lane Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

This is a warm and welcoming nursery. Staff are kind and caring. They carry out home visits to get to know children before they start. Children settle quickly into the nursery. They arrive and eagerly start playing. Children are confident. Staff get to know children well. They plan engaging activities based on children's interests. Staff ensure all children are included in all learning opportunities. Staff implement a routine that helps children understand what is going to happen next. Staff have created a curriculum for what they want children to learn. They support children to develop the skills they need for the next stage in their education.

Staff encourage children's independence. Children help to prepare snack. They enjoy peeling and chopping fruit and serving this to their friends at snack time. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They help children remember the golden rules at circle time. Staff are positive role models. Children are kind and caring to each other. Staff identify when children require extra support with their learning and development. They put strategies in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children make good progress in their development.

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

• Staff carry out risk assessments which help keep children safe and secure. Staff work with parents to provide children with healthy meals and snacks. They teach children about the importance of staying healthy and cleaning their teeth. There is a strong focus on supporting children develop their fine motor skills. Children concentrate closely when cutting out shapes with scissors.
• Outside, children develop their physical skills as they play football and build obstacle courses. They balance on crates and climb on equipment. Staff play with children and challenge them to extend their skills. Children enjoy imaginative play. They cook with pasta and sand in the outdoor kitchen. Inside, children enjoy pretending to be a hairdresser and painting nails. This develops their confidence and social skills.
• Children make good progress with their communication and language skills. Children enjoy singing the welcome song to each other and saying the morning prayer. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language. They speak clearly and engage with children who are not yet speaking. Staff encourage children to develop a love of reading. They provide a wide range of books across the nursery. They visit the local library. Parents join in literacy events organised by the nursery. This helps them provide consistent support at home.
• Children learn about the world around them. They learn about festivals such as Pancake Day and Diwali. Children enjoy watching duck eggs hatch. They learn how quickly ducks grow. Staff engage with children. However, sometimes staff do not use effective teaching strategies. This means that occasionally the quality of teaching is inconsistent across the nursery. Therefore children do not always consolidate or deepen their learning.
• Staff work closely with parents. They arrange trips to the local park for families to attend. They share resources and give books to parents to read to their children at home. Parents are happy with the care and education provided by the nursery. They appreciate the regular communication they receive about their children's learning and development. They comment on the progress their children have made with their language development and how their confidence has grown.
• Leaders are caring and supportive. Staff report feeling well supported by leaders. They receive ongoing supervision meetings and attend training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. Leaders reflect on the effectiveness of the nursery. They continually evaluate areas to develop and improve. Staff work effectively with other professionals and schools. They share information so that children can be supported when starting school. Children visit school for story time and staff plan to take children to the school for assemblies in the summer term. This helps children to be ready for the next stage in their education.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to develop the already good practice, supporting staff to develop consistently good quality teaching skills.