Partou Sucklings Yard Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are settled and happy. Staff consistently talk with children, sing songs and read stories with them. Children respond well and engage in conversations with staff. This helps to extend their communication and language development. Children demonstrate strong imaginative skills. For example, as they explore water, using a range of resources, staff suggest building their own boat. Children move swiftly to collect resources and start building. Their engagement and interaction with staff is good.

All children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, they use static equipment to climb and balance on. Staff support children to take safe risks. They encourage children to practise their jumping as they leap off the static equipment, with staff support. Children smile happily as they achieve this. This promotes their confidence.

Children develop friendships with staff and other children. Staff use consistent strategies to support children if they get upset, following disagreements with one another, and they comfort children. However, sometimes when children struggle with regulating their behaviour, staff do not always support them to learn about the consequences of their actions.

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

• Partnerships with parents are effective. Staff communicate well with parents, sharing regular updates and information about their children's progress and ongoing achievements. This helps parents to support their children and extend their learning at home. Additionally, staff's ongoing relationships and collaborative working with other professionals are effective in supporting children's individual needs. For example, staff seek appropriate support from outside agencies as required. As a result, the interaction, support and reasonable adjustments made, improve children's daily care and education.
• Staff promote children's speech development very well. For example, they engage and interact warmly with children. Staff hold conversations with children and repeat words back, modelling correct language and pronunciation. This has a positive impact on children's language development.
• Children eat a range of healthy and nutritious meals that reflect and meet their dietary requirements. Staff support children to be independent. For example, at mealtimes, older children clear up after themselves. They confidently clear their plates and help to tidy up, chatting happily with staff and other children as they do so.
• Staff supervision and support is effective. The manager ensures that regular discussions and group meetings enable staff to identify their own strengths and areas for improvement. Staff speak positively about their roles and how the manager's ongoing support and guidance promotes their professional development. This has a positive impact on staff.
• Children learn about the natural world. Staff encourage children to help care for the plants and trees that surround the outdoor area. Children engage in activities that extend this further, for example, they plant their own seeds to take home and watch grow. Staff teach children about the importance of looking after the seeds with water in order to see the flower flourish. They introduce new words, such as 'sprouting' and 'stems', which extends children's learning even further.
• The key-person system is effective. Staff demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of their key children's individual needs and specific requirements. Children make choices about their play and enjoy exploring. Staff plan activities and experiences that reflect all areas of learning. This helps to engage children. However, on occasions, staff do not always engage younger children in activities and experiences that provide appropriate challenge and interest to them.
• Staff use effective techniques to increase children's learning and encourage them to think further. For example, as staff and children build houses and boats together, the staff ask children to think about what else they might need. Children are given sufficient time to think and respond and staff encourage children to share their ideas and listen to each other. This has a positive impact on children's personal, social and emotional development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help children regulate their own behaviour and learn about the consequences of their actions
• help staff to engage young children in activities and experiences that provide appropriate challenge and interest.