Playdays Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop close friendship bonds with each other and the staff team. They welcome each other into the setting and walk in holding hands. Older children show great pride as they introduce their much younger siblings to their friends. Children behave well. They play harmoniously together and demonstrate the skills that staff have taught and they have learned, to enable them to share and take turns. For example, older children wait for others to have their go on the garden equipment and do this without intervention from staff. Children develop a good knowledge of similarities and differences. This enables them to learn about tolerance and show empathy.

Children thoroughly enjoy outdoor play and benefit from having the choice of where they wish to play. Babies watch in awe and wonder as they see the bubbles floating and pop as they land on their hands. Older children run around trying to catch the bubbles, squealing with delight. Staff skilfully extend this to a game of chasing the bubbles, enhancing children's enjoyment. They understand the differing ways that children learn and why they play in particular styles. For example, where children show fascination in lining up items or moving them from place to place, staff provide resources to enable them to do this. Children access an environment that staff plan successfully to help ensure that all children make the progress they are capable of.

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

• The manager has a clear intent for the curriculum that is ambitious for all children. She understands that plans for the nursery are consistently evolving depending on the current needs of those children attending. For example, recent improvements have been made to the garden areas to further increase children's overall development.
• Staff know each child's personalities and developmental stages in depth. This enables them to plan purposeful activities and experiences for each child based upon what they need to learn next. This means that children gain and practise new skills continuously. For example, they identified that toddlers needed more opportunities to build physical skills. Therefore, they revised the outdoor area and secured resources to allow toddlers to develop the skills they need to be able to climb and balance.
• Both staff and children use simple signing to aid in communication. For example, when asking for more water, a child signed this as well as using his words, showing that this has been learned. However, staff occasionally mispronounce letter sounds or do not repeat correct the pronunciation of words and phrases. This does not always help to further improve children's speaking skills.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those learning
• English as an additional language make good progress from their starting points. Staff use additional funding to good effect to enhance their learning further. They readily work with other professionals, such as speech therapists, to close gaps in learning swiftly.
• Children show a clear understanding of the daily timetable. However, on occasions, some staff carry out routines, such as nappy changes, at times when children are engrossed in their chosen play. This disrupts their play and learning. Also, some staff do not make the most of aspects such as mealtimes to engage children in further learning opportunities.
• Staff receive effective support from the manager and each other. There is a clear team ethos which enables all staff, including newer members, to have a good sense of well-being. Staff have consistent opportunities for individual meetings where they identify further training to enhance their professionalism.
• Partnerships with parents are good and this extends to effective links within the community. Parents speak positively about the communication they have with staff, not only on a daily basis but also throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. They comment on the varying methods staff use to share developmental information effectively on a continual basis. This helps parents to support their children's learning at home.
• Children have countless opportunities for early mark making, where they develop good small muscle skills. For example, babies and toddlers use chunky paintbrushes to dab water onto the mat. Older children sit for long periods of time creating drawings of others, which they give as gifts to staff. Children also take great delight in attempting to draw around each other on the ground in the garden with chunky chalks.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's use of the correct pronunciation of letter sounds, words and phrases to enhance their speaking skills
• support staff to ensure that nursery routines do not disrupt children's play and that they make the most of mealtimes to further enhance children's learning.