Play-Days Corporation Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this happy and friendly nursery. They arrive happily and quickly become immersed in their play and learning. Children who are new to the nursery settle very quickly and show that they feel happy and secure. Babies respond well to the nurturing and attentive interactions that staff provide.

Staff have high expectations of children. Children understand the rules and behave well. Staff ensure that babies and younger children interact and learn from each other. This supports their social skills well. Babies enjoy the opportunities to play alongside older children. They are keen to copy what older children do, such as challenging themselves to climb up the slide. Staff supervise babies very well so they can have access to a good level of safe physical challenges.

Children are creative and enjoy using their imagination in their play. Staff design the learning environment to reflect this. Older children access various tools as they design and make. They teach their friends how to make a mobile phone out of paper then use these in their role play. Younger children pretend to cook in the mud kitchen outdoors and tell staff that they are making mud soup.

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

• The manager reflects well on the quality of the provision and continually strives to extend the practice to benefit children. She provides staff with good support and training to help them to enhance their teaching skills. For example, recent training helped them to identify how they can make even better use of the learning environment to support children's learning, particularly outdoors.
• The manager has a strong knowledge of child development and has a good overview of what she wants children to learn as they progress through the nursery. However, she does not break down the curriculum to identify a precise sequence of learning to fully support staff in their planning.
• Staff have a detailed knowledge and understanding of each child's progress, and overall, use this information well to plan for children's learning. They place a strong focus on building on children's play interests. However, at times, staff do not use this information as well as possible to ensure that the learning experiences they plan for children directly reflect children's individual learning needs. This means that their teaching is not always precisely targeted to build on what children already know and can do.
• The manager ensures that staff monitor children's progress closely. Staff take prompt action to make referrals to outside professionals for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The manager ensures that additional funding for children with SEND is used well to support their needs.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Parents say how the staff's experience 'shines through'. They appreciate the frequent updates about the progress that their children are making and the ideas that staff provide them to support their child's learning at home. Staff work closely with parents of new children to gather detailed information about their child. Staff liaise with the previous setting that children attended to ensure that the information they have about children is comprehensive to support them in their initial planning.
• Children develop positive attitudes to learning and are well prepared for their eventual move to school. Staff adjust activities to help older children to extend their concentration. Older children display high levels of focus as they read handbell music and play various tunes. They know that when the member of staff points to the colour for their bell then they must ring it.
• Staff support children's communication skills well. Babies understand and follow simple instructions. Two- and three-year-old children confidently express their preferences about pizza toppings and learn about differences of opinion. Older children extend the range of words they use. For example, they explain that they drink water so they stay hydrated and do not dehydrate.
• Staff support children's health well. They follow good hygiene routines and children enjoy the nutritious snacks and meals. Children learn where their food comes from and explain how cheese is made from the milk from cows. Staff use mealtimes well to support children's independence. Children peel fruits, pour drinks and help with washing up.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• identify how the overarching curriculum can be sequenced more precisely to further support staff in their planning for children's learning
• help staff to use their knowledge of each child's targets to plan learning experiences that precisely reflect children's individual development needs.