Poppies Daycare Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff create an environment that nurtures children's interests and values them as individuals. Staff work closely with parents from the outset to ensure that they have all the information they need to help children transition to nursery smoothly. For example, staff settle babies to sleep using the same techniques as their parents to help them feel secure. Children show that they are happy and motivated to learn. For example, toddlers join in with excitement as staff read stories. Children behave well and are kind and polite. Staff teach children how to share their feelings and communicate effectively with others to develop their social and emotional skills. For example, when minor disagreements occur, staff explain to children how sharing works and demonstrate how to ask for a turn.

Staff support children's language development well. They add new words to extend children's vocabulary and repeat children's language to help them pronounce words correctly. Children learn to be independent in preparation for school. Toddlers learn to put on their own coats, and pre-school children serve their own food and pour their own drinks. Children enjoy plenty of fresh air and exercise every day. Toddlers smile widely as they stamp in puddles in the garden. The curriculum is carefully organised to meet the individual needs of every child and ensure all children make good progress. Children are well prepared for the next stage in their education, including school.

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

• The managers plan a curriculum with a strong focus on developing children's communication, social and physical skills. Children's emotional well-being is particularly well nurtured, which supports their learning and promotes positive behaviour because they feel safe and secure. Staff use assessment well to identify any gaps in children's development and take swift action to close them.
• Managers organise a robust system for staff training. Staff show a proactive approach to developing their practice, quickly implementing new information they have learned. For example, following recent mathematics training, pre-school staff organise activities that teach children to recognise a small group of items without needing to count them to develop their numeracy skills.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to develop their fine motor skills to build the muscles they need for early writing. For example, staff working with toddlers teach them how to use single-handed tools, such as scissors. Pre-school children manipulate play dough with their hands as they enjoy a 'dough disco'.
• Children are kind and polite to others. They play cooperatively as they pretend to make cakes using jars of coloured beads, sharing the resources and saying 'please' and 'thank you' to each other. Staff praise positive behaviour and help children to identify and name their feelings to help them learn to manage their own behaviour.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Managers use extra funding well to meet the needs of the intended children. The special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator makes appropriate referrals to external agencies, when needed, to help children get the support they need to make good progress.
• Staff nurture a love of books. Toddlers join in with the parts of the stories they know well as staff read to them. Staff teach children a wide variety of songs and rhymes to develop their vocabulary and literacy skills. They skilfully use targeted singing activities to provide extra support where gaps are identified in children's language development, following training from speech and language professionals.
• Staff support children to learn to manage their own self-care to help build their confidence and self-esteem. Older children attend to their own toileting, and staff teach children to wash their own hands and wipe their own noses hygienically. Children develop the independence and resilience they need in preparation for school.
• Staff plan a wide variety of exciting activities to build on children's interests. However, at times, staff do not organise group activities well enough in the pre-school room to enable children to fully engage in learning. For example, sometimes activities to develop children's language skills take place in a noisy room, which impacts on children's ability to tune into the words and sounds that staff are teaching them. As a result, some children's concentration is hindered.
• Parents report that they are very happy with the care and learning their children receive. Staff provide parents with advice and guidance to support them to extend their children's learning at home. For example, they share information about toilet training and organise meetings with parents to explain the transition to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• manage distractions during adult-led activities in the pre-school room to support children to stay engaged and focused on their learning.