Parkway Day Nursery @ Acklam Whin

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and settle quickly into this welcoming and friendly nursery. They build warm and trusting relationships with staff, which helps them to feel secure and confident. Toddlers seek reassurance from familiar adults when needed. Older children confidently explore their environment and make independent choices in their play. For example, children are captivated when their peers read a familiar story aloud. They sit together, listen intently and show high levels of concentration. Children clearly feel valued, secure and motivated to learn.

The curriculum is carefully designed and sequenced to build on what children already know and can do, while also reflecting their interests. For example, staff introduce a weekly focus story and plan related creative, physical and role-play activities. This helps children to stay highly engaged and deepen their understanding across the different areas of learning. Staff are good role models and have high expectations for children's behaviour. They speak calmly and respectfully, which encourages children to listen, share and take turns. Children behave well and develop a strong sense of fairness. They celebrate each other's successes, such as when their friends complete a puzzle or build a tall tower. This fosters children's pride and strengthens relationships. Staff's consistent encouragement and praise further support children's self-esteem and resilience.

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

• Staff provide an environment rich in language. They skilfully weave opportunities for communication and vocabulary into children's play. For example, during creative activities, staff encourage children to describe textures, such as 'gooey' or 'squishy'. They introduce props in stories to spark children's imagination and extend their language. This helps children to develop the words they need to communicate their ideas confidently.
• Staff support children's mathematical development effectively. For example, children experiment with filling and pouring containers in the water tray, while staff introduce language such as 'full', 'empty' and 'half'. This enables children to develop mathematical language and concepts through practical play.
• Children enjoy creative opportunities that support their early mark-making skills. For example, they have fun mixing colours and painting on large outdoor surfaces. Staff encourage children to talk about the colours they are creating and the shapes they make. This helps children to express themselves freely while developing the control and coordination they need for early writing.
• Children build their independence and self-care skills. At snack time, they take responsibility for their own plates. Older children practise putting on and managing their coats and belongings. These experiences help children to develop important life skills that prepare them well for the next stage of their education, including school.
• Partnerships with parents and carers are strong and families feel well supported. Families receive regular updates through handovers, digital platforms and events, such as stay-and-play sessions, which help them to share in their children's learning. Leaders have identified the need to strengthen how they share information about the curriculum. This will ensure that parents are clearer about what their children are learning and how they can help at home.
• Leaders are reflective and ambitious. They are dynamic in driving improvement and have clear action plans in place. For example, staff now embed new practices following training on nutrition, including reinforcing guidance on healthy packed lunches. However, some initiatives are not yet fully established. For example, opportunities to extend the already good learning across all areas outdoors have not yet been developed. This means that children's learning opportunities outdoors are sometimes incidental, rather than purposeful.
• Staff use additional funding appropriately to meet children's needs, such as targeted support for their speech and language development. They liaise with external professionals where needed to ensure that children receive timely help. All children make good progress from their starting points in development.
• Staff work closely with local schools to support children's transitions. For example, they share key information about children's learning and development and invite teachers into the setting to meet children in familiar surroundings. This helps children to feel confident and well prepared for their move to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the ways in which leaders and staff share information about the curriculum with parents, so that families are consistently clear about what their children are learning and how they can support learning at home
• support staff to continue building on their good teaching, in particular by planning more purposeful outdoor learning opportunities, so that children's experiences outside are consistently purposeful, rather than incidental.