Playdays Farnborough

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy. They show that they feel safe with the nurturing staff. Babies new to the nursery settle well. They receive lots of cuddles, smiles and reassuring words. Soon these babies are playing happily. In other rooms, children enjoy the company of the enthusiastic staff. Children behave well and are developing a sense of right and wrong. Staff give them gentle reminders of the expectations, for example, to be kind to their friends, to share and take turns. Staff encourage children to talk about their feelings and use words, such as 'happy' and 'sad'.

A wide range of activities and learning experiences are available, which ignite children's curiosity and eagerness to play and learn. Children explore with play dough as they stretch, mould and manipulate it into different shapes. This helps strengthen their hand and finger muscles, supporting their early writing skills. Children thoroughly enjoy being active. They like to engage in physical and imaginative play. They recreate first-hand experiences as they take their 'babies' for a walk and make sandcastles, mixing sand and water into buckets ready to show awaiting staff. Children talk avidly with staff as they create castles with cups and create 'phones' with cups and pipe cleaners. They count the cups correctly and talk about the length of the pipe cleaners, showing good mathematical awareness.

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

• The management team is extremely dedicated to providing high-quality experiences for children. This positive attitude is shared within the team. Staff comment that they feel happy and well supported by the management team. Staff work together well to reflect on their practice and experiences for children. For example, positive changes have recently been made to the learning environment. Furthermore, plans are in place for developments in the outdoor space to help further support children's outcomes. The management give staff opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. For example, they signpost staff to different training opportunities. The manager carries out supervisions with staff. This gives them time to reflect on their roles and set targets to further develop practice.
• Staff plan and implement a curriculum that follows children's interests. They gather information from parents during settling-in sessions about what children already know and can do. Staff use this information to plan activities that meet the needs of the children. They complete observations and assessments on children and share these with parents. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. The management and staff team work with other professionals, parents and the child's key person to implement support plans. This helps all children make good progress in their learning.
• Partnership with parents is good. Staff ensure that parents are well informed about their children's progress. Parents report that they are very happy with their children's progress and praise the staff highly. The manager and staff share suggestions of activities that parents can do at home to support their children's learning routinely, effectively promoting continuity in children's care and learning.
• Staff working with babies and young children ensure they receive the support and attention they need. They respond quickly when babies are hungry, tired or just want a cuddle. They organise the environment to promote babies' developing mobility. Although staff support children's communication skills well overall, some younger children spend longer than they need with their dummies in their mouths. This limits their opportunities to use the words and phrases they are hearing and learning. Staff promote older children's communication and language effectively. For example, they use open dialogue alongside children's play, introduce vocabulary and provide many opportunities for children to join in with singing.
• Overall, staff promote children's good health and generally develop their awareness of healthy lifestyles well. For example, children learn to wash their hands before mealtimes and regularly have opportunities to spend time outside in the fresh air. Occasionally, staff do not fully extend children's awareness of healthy eating and the importance of getting fresh air outside, to help build on their understanding of the importance of healthy lifestyles.
• Staff use care routines very well to help children feel emotionally secure. Staff tell babies what is going to happen next, for example that they are going to carry them to a different part of the room or to change their nappy.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support younger children to only use their dummies at appropriate times during the day, helping children to have more opportunities to use the words and phrases they are learning
• strengthen support for children to extend their understanding of healthy lifestyles further through staff interactions.