Play 2 Learn Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly into the nursery. Staff obtain essential information from parents to get to know children very well. Staff use this knowledge to help children feel secure and engage in play. For example, as babies like waving their arms and tapping tables, staff offer musical instruments for them to shake and tap. This helps them learn about what their bodies can do. Staff set up the environment to create a sense of belonging for the children. Children's pictures and photos of their experiences welcome them into the nursery.

Staff offer positive reinforcement, which helps children to behave well. Children are kind to their friends and use their manners. Older children take pride in being the lunchtime helper as they give the plates of food to the other children. The others respond respectfully with a polite 'thank you'. Babies are confident and curious. They wait with delight as staff encourage them to choose a toy from a bag during a game. They explore the resources to develop all their senses. They squidge play foam in their hands and watch the diggers move about in the garden. Staff encourage children to develop a love of reading. Older children listen to staff read stories with expression. Babies snuggle up to their key person and point to pictures.

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

• The ambitious management team is developing the newly established staff team. They have high standards about how they expect staff to interact and care for children. Any concerns or incidents are handled swiftly. Managers complete all required documentation and follow all necessary processes to help ensure children receive good care and education.
• The newly established staff team welcome feedback about their work. Staff have a clear understanding of what they need to do to develop their interactions with children. Managers meet with them regularly. As a result, staff say they feel supported in their professional and personal lives.
• Staff know children well and complete regular observations and assessments to help them progress in their learning and be ready for school. The manager is an excellent role model when working in the rooms with staff and children. Staff play with children and are genuinely interested in what the children say and do. However, not all staff are highly skilled at including quieter children in play and extending their learning.
• The provision for toddlers is still being developed. At times, children in this room are not as engaged in learning with adults. The staff know children well and understand what they need to learn. However, they do not always implement the learning intentions of activities effectively. As a result, toddlers sometimes wander about less engaged in learning.
• Staff help children to develop their communication and language skills effectively. They sing songs and talk as children play across the nursery. Babies babble and use gestures to communicate their needs, which staff respond to warmly. Staff ask older children questions to help them use their thinking skills, listening to their answers. For example, when pretending to make cakes with play dough, staff ask children what is next in the cooking process. Children listen to the question and answer how they will bake it and for how long.
• Children experience the world around them when they go on outings in the local area. Staff give meaning to real-world experiences. They talk about what the different colour traffic lights mean while playing a 'stop' and 'go' game to correspond with the red and green lights. Staff provide children with binoculars to see further away and talk about the natural items children spot.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are making good progress in their learning from their starting points. Staff work closely with parents to provide continuity of care. Furthermore, they liaise with professionals to implement guidance that helps the children's learning and development.
• Children have good opportunities to develop their physical skills. Older children build strength and core control as they pull themselves up on the climbing wall. Staff support them to move their whole bodies. Toddlers poke and squish play dough to help their small-muscle development before learning to write. Babies crawl over a range of obstacles towards staff, who encourage them to continue.
• Parents are happy with the care and education provided at the nursery. There is a good amount of two-way information sharing. They like the online learning journal for daily updates about their child. Parents also comment that they value the face-to-face communication on arrival and collection. It is detailed and very reassuring as they exchange knowledge about their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff develop teaching skills in the toddler room, so that intended learning for children is implemented more effectively
• strengthen teaching to be more reactive to children's various learning dispositions, so that all children have equally high-quality opportunities to learn.