Pixie Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The manager and staff have a clear vision of what they want children to learn and achieve. Children enjoy a sequenced curriculum that builds on their skills and knowledge over time. Children are settled and happy. They show good levels of concentration in their chosen activities and enjoy playing alongside staff and their peers. Staff have established good relationships with the children. They are nurturing and support learning well. Children show high levels of confidence and independence, for example older children enjoy the responsibility of completing a variety of 'jobs' throughout the day, such as feeding the fish and watering the vegetable patch.

Children enjoy a wide range of learning experiences. They enthusiastically play indoors and outdoors. They are eager to learn, and their efforts are praised and encouraged, and their good behaviour is celebrated. Children who have recently joined the setting are well supported. Staff help them with building friendships and understanding the daily routines. Children have a positive attitude to learning. Children's emotional well-being is supported well, as children are given lots of reassurance and eagerly seek staff for comfort and cuddles. This helps to build on their self-esteem and confidence.

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

• Since the last inspection the managers have addressed the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection and have made improvements to the learning experiences for children. Children learn form a planned and sequenced curriculum with a strong focus on language and personal, social and emotional development. Staff plan activities to support children's learning well in these areas.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is good. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with external agencies to make sure that individual needs are identified, and targeted support plans are swiftly put in place. She provides ongoing support for parents, making sure that they understand their children's needs and how to support their development at home.
• Staff teach children good communication, language and literacy skills. For example, staff teach younger children new words to enhance their vocabulary as they join them at activities. Children engage well in stories read by staff sharing what the know about the familiar book. Staff sing songs and rhymes. However, staff working with older children do not consistently use questions to challenge children's learning as they join them at activities.
• Staff provide good support for children who speak English as an additional language. They learn and display common words in children's home language.
• Staff use lots of visual resources, such as timetables, to help children to understand the nursery routine and help them to settle well. Parents are invited into the nursery to share special stories read in their home language. This helps all children to understand what makes them unique.
• Children develop their physical skills well. Staff plan a wide variety of activities to support children to develop their fine motor skills. For example, children play with construction blocks, practise cutting using scissors, and younger children enjoy using tweezers. Children have plenty of opportunities to develop large motor movements in different ways. For example, children ride bicycles, climb steps and practise throwing and catching.
• Parents are extremely positive about the setting and the care and attention their children receive from staff. They highlight how much progress their children have made over time. Parents appreciate the information they regularly receive about their children's progress and the ideas for how to support their learning at home, particularly the home-learning activity folders the children receive.
• The manager's know the setting well and can identify its strengths as well as weaknesses. They have plans in place to further improve on the experiences that are provided for children. However, the manager's monitoring of staff practice is inconsistent. For instance, although the manager's to support staff through continuing professional development as well as modelling within the rooms to enhance their practice, the impact of this is not yet fully effective.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to extend and challenge children's learning as they join them at activities
• strengthen how staff practice is monitored to provide relevant support, to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistent and children continually benefit from good-quality learning experiences.