Partou Oxton Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and excited. They receive a warm welcome from the friendly and caring staff team. This nurturing approach helps children quickly immerse themselves in a variety of enjoyable activities. Children's behaviour is good. They receive high levels of praise from staff and each other. Staff encourage babies and toddlers to use their hands to explore. Children use chalk to draw patterns on the concrete outside, while babies happily make marks in paint, sand and soil.

Babies choose the toys they want to play with. Staff working with babies support them well. They use simple language and are very attentive to their needs. For example, staff respond quickly and gently when children are tired. Children develop their physical skills. They use their coordination to dig in the sand and use the slide with friends. Children have fun, racing cars around the tracks outside. Inside, children expand their creative skills through messy play and craft activities. For example, they paint and role play in the home corner, which helps their imaginations flourish. Children enjoy looking at books independently and staff read them stories throughout the day.

Children enjoy healthy, balanced and nutritious meals, which help to support their good health and physical well-being. Children vote on what pizza toppings they have when making their own pizza with the nursery cook. Older children learn how to use tools. For example, they use knives with control as they chop their own fruit for a snack.

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

• Staff plan a curriculum that focuses on children's current interests and their next steps of learning. A varied range of experiences build on what children know and can do. Children are well engaged in planned activities. However, the less-experienced staff do not consistently interact with children during play to extend children's learning even further. Some staff do not consistently model the correct words for the youngest children. For example, they use 'din dins' when children are eating their dinner. This has an impact on children's language development.
• Children develop a love of stories and songs at the nursery. Babies enjoy turning the pages of board books. Older toddlers talk about what they can see in the pictures. Children enjoy taking books home from the lending library. This keen interest prepares them well for later reading and writing.
• Staff support all children to manage their feelings well. They gently remind children of their expectations for behaviour. For example, staff encourage the younger children to use 'kind hands' with friends and think about the impact that their behaviour has on others.
• Older children create pictures of their families, and these are displayed in the nursery. Staff talk to the children about their drawings. They use them to support children's understanding about their uniqueness and their differences.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported very well. Staff respond quickly to any signs that children may be unsettled. The special educational needs coordinator works with other professionals to ensure that children's needs are met at the earliest opportunity.
• Pre-school children enjoy learning about dinosaurs. Staff introduce children to new words, such as 'diplodocus' and 'stegosaurus'. Children repeat these words and then use them to correctly identify the dinosaurs they play with. Children eagerly talk about what dinosaurs eat. This leads to a discussion with staff about fruit bats and animals who only eat vegetables and fruit.
• Partnerships with parents are very good. Staff share a wide range of information with parents about their children's days and the progress they are making. Children take home learning packs that support their learning about phonics. For example, they take home a 'letter bag' to try to find things at home starting with the letter 'S'. Children then share their findings with staff. Staff talk to parents about the positive effects this has on children's speech development.
• Staff support children to develop their independence and learn the importance of self-care. For example, children serve themselves lunch and pour their own drinks. They independently wash their own hands and talk about the need 'to wash off germs' or they will be poorly.
• Staff consistently promote children's love of being active outdoors. All children are encouraged to challenge themselves by considering how they set up the balance equipment and then navigate their way around it. This promotes children's coordination.
• Overall, the manager has a good oversight of staff's practice and the effectiveness of the educational programmes. Regular supervision meetings help staff to identify aspects of their development to improve and raise any concerns they may have about their key children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support less-experienced staff to model language effectively so all children can use the correct words when communicating
• support less-experienced staff to develop their interactions with children to a consistently high standard so children may extend their knowledge and language even further.