Plym Bridge Nursery and Day Care

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The staff team is very kind, caring, patient and sensitive and works hard to establish strong bonds with the children from the start. Staff use what they know about the children's likes, interests and comforts to engage them in activities. This helps new children to settle in quickly and to develop a sense of belonging and security at the nursery. Children soon become confident to explore the resources. Staff help the children to understand boundaries and are consistent in their management of children's behaviour, such as when supporting them to share and take turns.

Leaders and staff work together to plan a broad and ambitious curriculum that takes account of children's next steps in learning. Staff are clear about what they want each child to learn next and how they can provide support to help children make progress. Staff understand how to capture children's attention and create a sense of wonder and mystery during the activities they lead. Children are curious and eager to get involved and to try new things. Staff identify when children might benefit from additional help, and seek support from leaders and other agencies to meet children's individual needs promptly. All children make good progress in preparation for their later learning.

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

• Leaders prioritise staff's well-being. They are in the process of changing their record-keeping processes to try to reduce workload pressures for staff. Leaders provide good support and coaching for staff to promote their professional development. For example, they are beginning to build staff's confidence to reflect on their own practice and that of their colleagues, to help them to enhance their skills.
• Staff plan learning experiences for children that link with their interests, to motivate them to take part. On occasion, leaders do not organise the staff team as effectively as possible to enable staff to meet every child's individual learning needs consistently and to engage the children more deeply in their activities.
• Staff model communication and language well for children. For example, they use signing as they talk to children, speak slowly and clearly using simple language and vary their tone to capture children's attention. However, staff do not consider how to engage children in detailed discussion during snack times and mealtimes to extend their speaking skills even further.
• Children develop a love of books from an early age. They request that staff read to them, selecting a book and settling into the staff's laps comfortably. Children look at the pictures with interest and turn the pages eagerly.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to practise what they know and have seen. Children use combs to brush their own hair, care for and bath the dolls and pretend to speak to people on toy phones. Staff encourage and join in with this imaginative play to build on the children's ideas. For example, they talk to children about dressing the dolls and putting them down for a sleep.
• Staff are enthusiastic and give children praise to build their self-esteem. For example, they ask children for 'high fives' and show them a 'thumbs up'. Children develop confidence in their abilities to manage tasks for themselves, such as pouring drinks from small jugs and washing their hands.
• Children behave well. They listen to staff and follow their instructions and develop social skills as they play with and alongside others. For example, toddlers giggle happily together as they chase each other up and down the ramps.
• Staff work effectively with parents to keep them informed about their children's care and education. Parents comment positively about the support that leaders and staff provide for them and their children and the progress in learning their children make.
• Leaders and staff are clear about their responsibilities to safeguard children. They know the processes to follow to record and report any concerns about children and staff, including how to escalate these to external agencies if needed. Leaders implement robust recruitment and vetting arrangements to ensure the suitability of staff to work with children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the deployment of staff to strengthen the support for each child and engage them more deeply in their activities
• support staff to organise and use snack times and mealtimes more effectively to extend children's communication and language development even further.