Partou Habergham Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have created a nurturing play environment for children. They greet children each morning with a smile and a hug. Children cannot contain their excitement to play and explore their surroundings. Staff know children well. They plan an ambitious curriculum, which keeps children interested to learn. For example, older children giggle with delight while exploring the texture of ice. In the main, staff are good role models. Generally, children behave well and show positive attitudes towards their learning. Staff give children's emotional well-being high priority. They spend time getting to know children and their families during the settling-in period. Consequently, children settle quickly, feel safe and have a strong sense of belonging.

Staff encourage children's individuality exceptionally well. Children express themselves through song and dance. They learn about the many ways that make them unique, such as having different hair or skin colour. Staff teach children that it is okay to be different. They help children to be respectful of others. Staff support children to be independent from a young age. For example, they encourage babies to wipe their own faces after mealtimes. Older children help to tidy toys away and take care of their personal belongings. Staff support children well for their eventual move on to school. They talk to children about their new teachers and classrooms. Children are confident to talk about what they are looking forward to at school. They develop the necessary skills to support them in their next steps in learning.

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

• The setting has worked exceptionally hard to bring about change since the last inspection. Self-evaluation is accurate. Staff reflect on how they can improve the setting further. For example, they have worked hard to develop the play environment to support babies' physical development. This has resulted in babies showing excellent upper body strength while using soft play equipment.
• Staff provide children with a curriculum that is built on what they already know about children and research. Children enjoy the array of activities. For instance, older children become enthralled while learning about animals and their habitats. Younger children are fascinated while exploring paint with their hands. Children make good progress relative to their initial starting points.
• Overall, children behave well and show positive attitudes towards their learning. However, some staff lack confidence in supporting children to manage their own feelings and emotions. This means that some children do not always know what is expected of them.
• The setting prioritises staff's well-being. It works closely with staff to reduce their workload. Staff reported that working at the setting is like being part of 'one big family'. Staff morale is high. The atmosphere buzzes with their energy.
• The setting has introduced new systems for staff's training and coaching. This is having a positive impact on their understanding of child development. For example, training in communication and language has given staff more confidence in how to introduce new vocabulary to children. However, the setting is not consistent in its approach to providing staff with feedback about their interactions with children. This means that some staff are unaware of what they need to do in order to improve their practice.
• Staff support children who speak English as an additional language well. They use familiar words in children's home languages. Staff are skilled at introducing vocabulary to children during their play. Children who speak English as an additional language make good progress. They gain a good command of English.
• Care practices are good. Staff are deployed well and ratios are met. Staff teach children about the importance of exercise and about eating healthily. Children help to grow vegetables and talk to one another about keeping physically active. Children discuss why they need to visit the dentist and know how to care for their teeth. Children develop a good awareness of healthy living.
• In the main, partnership working is effective. Links with external professionals and local schools are robust. However, the setting has not thought about additional ways to support all parents and carers in receiving information about their children's time at the setting. This means that some parents are not aware of how to best support their children's learning at home.
• The setting supports children who are in receipt of additional funding well. It provides funded children with learning opportunities that they may not usually experience. For example, children relish having a visit from a 'zoo lab'. They fascinated while looking at different animals, such as a tarantula and a scorpion. Children in receipt of additional funding make good progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to be more confident in helping children to manage their own feelings and emotions
• continue to embed the arrangements for staff's coaching to help them to improve their practice
• strengthen information sharing with parents to better support their children's learning at home.