Precious Moments Childcare (Darwen) ltd.

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a nurturing, home-from-home environment. They gain information from parents about children's care and learning needs on entry to the nursery. This enables staff to develop strong attachments with children, which has a positive impact on children's well-being and emotional development. Children build warm, trusting relationships and feel happy and secure in staff's care. They are eager to start their day as they are warmly welcomed by staff.

The manager has an ambitious vision to provide high-quality inclusive care and education to all children. She uses additional funding well. She provides a curriculum that is designed to give all children the knowledge and skills they need to succeed. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and those learning English as an additional language.

Staff complete regular observations of children. They use these to promptly identify any gaps in children's learning and seek early professional help, when needed. This consistent approach to supporting and assessing children's learning, ensures that those children are catching up quickly.

Staff skilfully support children to understand boundaries and to develop an awareness and respect for their peers. Children behave well. For instance, staff allow children time to try and resolve conflicts and take turns on their own. Children demonstrate that they are starting to understand this as they take turns independently on an interactive whiteboard.

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

• Staff support children's communication and language well. For example, they use good questioning skills as children play, to engage them in conversations. Staff support children to learn new vocabulary. They introduce new words and their meaning. For example crabs, pincers and claws. However, during some activities in the preschool room the noise level makes it hard for children to hear and concentrate.
• Children have a range of opportunities to develop independence skills. For example, children pour their drinks and are given knives at lunch, so they learn how to use a knife to cut food and push food onto their fork. However, children are not supported to wipe their noses with tissues. Children use their sleeves or hands. This impacts on their ability to develop strong self-help skills, ready for their future move to school.
• Children have opportunities to develop their physical skills. Preschool and toddler children have regular access to the outdoor space and use this to run, climb, kick balls and use ride-along toys. They manage their coordination as they climb up and down equipment and navigate around obstacles as they run. However, opportunities for babies to access the outdoor space is limited. It is not organised well. Babies that prefer to learn outdoors are not always supported to do so. This results in babies losing interest and getting frustrated to go outdoors. They do not stay engaged in their learning.
• The manager is passionate about providing high-quality care and education and has high expectations for all children. Staff are supported well in their roles by the leadership team through effective supervisions. They are encouraged to develop their knowledge and skills through regular training. Recent training has focused on developing children's attention skills. This has led to staff making resources to support children to engage in activities for extended periods of time.
• The staff team have developed close relationships with parents and support children and their families well. Parents speak highly of the nursery and their children's keyperson. They say that they are very supportive and help them to understand how they can extend their children's learning at home.
• Staff are good role models and have consistent expectations of children's behaviour. Children behave well and enjoy the company of others. They play cooperatively and demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. They listen intently and respond well to adults. Childrens behaviour is good.
• The keyperson system is securely in place. Staff have a good knowledge of their individual key children, including their development, care needs and what makes them unique. Staff are attentive to children's needs and recognise when they need additional emotional support, for example when younger children become tired and need a cuddle.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to consider the impact of noise levels on children's learning, to better support children's concentration skills
• improve consistency in how children are supported to develop independence and self-help skills
• review how access to outdoor play is planned and organised for babies.