Penguin Day Care Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff place a key focus on providing high-quality care and learning for all children in the nursery. Managers work with staff to embed a varied and well-sequenced curriculum that supports children to develop their skills and knowledge. Staff currently have a focus on children's communication and language development, emotions and independence. Children are keen to explore the wide range of activities on offer inside and outside. They enjoy spending time engaging with staff. For example, babies excitedly splash in the water tray and toddlers race around in toy cars, asking staff to chase them. Older children hunt for hidden caterpillars in the garden. Staff play alongside children and allow them to take the lead and follow their direction. They take a keen interest in learning about children and what they do outside of nursery, to develop an understanding of children's home lives and interests.

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery and behave well. They form close attachments with staff, who provide caring and nurturing care. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children are sociable and form friendships. Older children confidently tell visitors what they like doing and why they like coming to the nursery. The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is particularly good. Staff provide an inclusive and enabling environment. They ensure that they work closely with parents and professionals so that children receive continuous support and guidance.

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

• Staff know their key children well. Overall, they plan appropriate activities that build on children's knowledge. Staff sequence children's learning effectively and know the next steps in their development. Children make good progress in their learning.
• Managers are ambitious. They are dedicated and passionate about ensuring that all children receive the best outcomes. Managers use their own evaluations, as well as the feedback from parents and outside agencies, to develop a clear action plan.
• Managers recognise the importance of valuing staff's well-being. Staff say that they enjoy working at the nursery and feel very supported by managers. Managers actively encourage staff to attend training that enhances their learning and interactions with children. They regularly encourage professional development opportunities to help staff to develop their skills. For example, recent training on 'stories for learning' has helped staff to build on children's love of books and reading.
• Staff use their thorough risk assessments to provide children with a safe and secure environment. There is a strong focus on supporting children to take risks in their play. Staff deploy themselves well to encourage this, for example, as children run up and down the garden hill. Children receive clear explanations to help them to climb trees safely. Older children work collaboratively to reach their goal, such as balancing safely on the climbing logs.
• Staff's interactions with children are good. They respond quickly to children's attempts at communication. For example, staff working with the babies notice when babies hold out their hands for help to stand up. Toddlers copy words and name animals as staff read books aloud. Staff working with the older children ask questions and join in with their imaginative play. All staff use words, signs and gestures and provide time for children to think and respond. Children become confident communicators.
• Staff gather valuable information during verbal handovers with parents. They also share daily information and photos via an online app. This includes updates on children's development progress and what they have eaten. This effective two-way communication helps to build strong and lasting relationships between families and nursery staff. Staff regularly share ideas, books and resources to support parents to continue children's learning at home. This helps to consolidate children's learning between home and the nursery.
• Children benefit from a range of healthy and nutritious meals and snacks. They sit together at mealtimes, demonstrating good social skills, and feed themselves from a very young age. However, staff ask children to sit and wait at the table before they are ready. This can sometimes lead to children waiting for extended periods, which affects their behaviour as they become restless.
• There is a good balance of experiences relating to children's interests. Children confidently lead their play. Staff plan focused activities to challenge children's next steps in learning and have good knowledge of any potential gaps in their development. However, staff do not always pitch some group activities at the right level to engage all children in their learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the organisation of lunchtime routines so that staff are fully prepared and children do not have to wait unnecessarily
• review the organisation of group activities to ensure that all children are engaged in their learning at their level of understanding.