PARKSIDE DAY NURSERY

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter the setting and are eager to explore the well-resourced environment. Good key-worker systems are in place to ensure children feel secure and settled in the setting. Staffing arrangements in the rooms ensure children are cared for by core staff, who know and understand children's individual needs. This ensures care and education given to children is consistent, while the new staff team continues to form and develop.

Children are supported to regulate their behaviour. Staff encourage them to express their feelings. They offer support to parents in managing their children's behaviours and any additional needs. Children are encouraged to use 'kind hands' and reminded about expected behaviours. Staff speak to them about how to keep themselves safe and highlight potential risks. Consequently, children behave well in the setting.

Leaders and managers have high expectations for all children. The design of the curriculum enables children to build on what they already know, to embed and extend their learning. Staff ensure children have the required skills before moving them to the next room in the setting. They consider children's emotional needs, supporting them through any changes. They place a value on children's friendships and strive to move cohorts together, when possible, to minimise any unrest.

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

• Children's communication and language skills are built upon throughout the nursery. Young children are encouraged to babble through gentle singing and rhymes. Older children benefit from story telling and ongoing conversation with staff as they play. Staff enrich older children's use of language, for instance, by introducing new words, such as 'skeleton' and 'bones', while learning about the body and growing.
• Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to be physically active. Children enjoy outdoor activities and learn how to manage different surfaces and steps. Children excitedly stretch and bend before engaging in group time, lifting and lowering the parachute. They giggle as their friends hide and reappear.
• Staff monitor and track children's development to ensure children are making good progress in their learning. They quickly identify when children require additional support. This early intervention ensures children have the required input from the start and they are able to make sound progress from their starting points. Staff work with other professionals to review children's needs and targeted areas.
• Children are supervised well when eating and during their play. Children are confident to explore their environment and the wide range of resources.
• However, at times, when children are engaging in child-initiated play, staff do not always identify when children are ready to move on in their learning. Staff do not always recognise when children would benefit from staff intervention.
• Children are familiar with the routine of the day, and movement around the building. However, at times, staff do not manage these transitions well. Children can be waiting for longer than necessary to move on to the next activity in the day.
• Staff ensure hygiene and self-care practices are consistent and embedded. Children regularly wash hands. Staff support them with nose wiping, using discussions about hygiene and germs to facilitate their understanding further. Children participate in teeth brushing and learn about healthy teeth and gums.
• Staff support children to develop their independence skills through familiar routines and daily tasks. Older children set the table for lunch before self-serving their meals. Children are encouraged to persevere with tasks, such as cutting their food, and respond well when praise is given.
• Regular staff supervisions and the monitoring of practice, contributes to the continuous development of staff and their personal effectiveness. However, more incisive and individualised feedback is needed to further support all staff to raise the quality of their teaching and provision to the highest levels.
• Leaders and managers are working hard to identify areas for future improvement. They reflect on the provision and evaluate the effectiveness of the curriculum and the environment. They recognise the areas which need greater focus.
• Partnerships with parents are positive. They are complimentary about the care and variety of experiences children receive. They recognise the good progress their children are making and feel staff help them to support children's learning and development at home. Parents benefit from a two-way communication diary, which ensures they know what their children are doing in the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide higher levels of teaching and interactions during routine activities to further extend children's learning experiences
• support staff to manage transition times during daily routines, to help children as they move around the setting
• extend professional development opportunities to improve the overall quality of teaching and support children's achievements to the highest standards.