Polly's Private Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and caring environment for the children. As a result, children settle well and show that they feel safe and secure as they confidently explore the resources. Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff and parents work together to bring about better outcomes for children, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They share information about children's progress electronically and through regular discussions. This enables them to work together to promote children's next steps in learning. Staff and parents also work together to reassure children when they are anxious, for example when settling back into the nursery after closures or moving on to school.

Children learn how to manage their feelings very well, as a result, their behaviour is very good. Staff help children understand the consequences of their behaviour on others and how to care for their environment. For example, they talk about why other children cannot enjoy books if the pages are torn. Children also learn to share and take turns as they wait to pour the vinegar onto the baking soda to form an erupting volcano. Staff have high expectations of the children. They skilfully build on what children already know and can do. For example, pre-school children, who already know some sounds of letters of the alphabet, are encouraged to think of words beginning with familiar sounds as they play.

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

• Staff encourage children's communication and language skills very well. They sing and read with them throughout the day. Staff also hold conversations with children and introduce new words, such as volcano, eruption and lava as they play. In the baby room staff repeat sounds that babies make and use number names as they count the animals. Staff help toddler room children build sentences as they repeat what the child says and adds in one more word, such as 'duck on the pond'.
• Staff know the children well. They use their knowledge of children's interests and next steps in development to plan an interesting curriculum that extends children's learning across all areas of development. As a result, children make good progress and are ready for school.
• Children take part in a range of exciting activities and are, generally, fully engaged in their learning. However, during large group activities, some younger children tend to lose focus and do not gain the skills expected of them.
• Children develop their physical skills effectively as they play outdoors in the fresh air in their secure bubbles. They take managed risks as they climb, balance and jump. This boosts their confidence in their own abilities.
• The management team and staff continually review their practice to highlight areas where they can make well-targeted improvements. For example, they have recently made changes in the playrooms so that children can access resources more effectively to enhance learning. Parents' and children's views are taken into consideration through discussions and observations of children.
• Staff receive good levels of training to build on their professionalism and increase their knowledge. This training enables staff to support the individual needs of children well.
• The management team engages with staff continually to ensure that they are fully aware of any pressures on staff's well-being from their workload. They take immediate and effective steps to minimise these, which in turn enables staff to focus on the care and education of the children.
• Management have a good overview of children's progress. They review and monitor children's achievements to identify any gaps in learning across the nursery. They then support staff to plan the curriculum to target specific areas of learning. Consequently, gaps in learning close quickly.
• The management team and staff work effectively with other agencies involved in children's care, such as Portage and speech and language therapists. However, information about children's learning and development is not shared with all other early years providers that children attend. This does not make sure that there is continuity of learning for every child between settings.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on learning opportunities in the two- to three-year age group to ensure that all children are engaged and fully involved in the curriculum and learn the expected skills
• strengthen the partnerships with all other early years provisions that children attend, in order to share relevant information about their care and learning and promote continuity for children.