Pump House Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy as staff greet them with a warm welcome. Staff encourage parents to share information on arrival. This helps staff to gain an understanding of anything that may impact on children's day. Staff help children to feel safe and secure by meeting children's needs. For example, babies display curiosity as they build with blocks. Staff engage babies and extend their learning by counting as they build and by using encouragement. Babies copy what they see and show delight in their achievements. Staff are positive role models and remind children of the rules and routines. Children demonstrate a good understanding of this and follow routines well. This helps to build children's confidence and builds structure to the day. As a result, children have a positive attitude to their learning and behave very well.

Leaders and staff create a wide and varied curriculum that engages and excites children. They want children to reach their full potential, and they create learning that helps children to be curious, solve problems and have a go. For example, staff encourage children to explore small pipes and use connectors to create shapes of different sizes. Children investigate and solve problems through trial and error, using mathematical language, such as 'long' and 'short'. They happily share resources with their friends as they build and create shapes.

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

• Leaders and staff are ambitious for every child. They have a robust settling-in process that helps to identify what children know now and what they need to learn next. Teaching is sequenced so that children learn in stages and build their knowledge over time to create long-term learning. Staff establish what interests children and use this to engage children in learning.
• The provider values their staff, who have regular supervision sessions. This helps to identify strengths that can be brought into practice and areas that need further support. Leaders value training and how it can be used to improve staff's practice. They use regular meetings with staff and room visits to support staff and enhance their teaching. However, the monitoring of staff's practice is not targeted consistently to support staff to extend their knowledge to the next level.
• Children, including those who speak English as an additional language, learn to be effective communicators. Staff talk to children throughout the day and give children time to process information and respond. They introduce a range of vocabulary to extend children's language. Staff ensure that they talk to babies and young children at eye level to capture their attention. Staff give toddlers choices in the nursery rhymes they sing, and toddlers enthusiastically remember the actions to the songs they sing. Older children recall familiar parts of stories they hear and confidently participate in back-and-forth conversations.
• Children build their physical skills from the moment they start at nursery. Young children are supported in learning to walk. Staff are patient and provide lots of encouragement as babies develop confidence by holding their hands as they build up their strength. Babies enjoy rolling balls back and forwards with staff as they begin to learn how to coordinate their body movements. Older children enjoy outdoor experiences where they can stretch and move their bodies as well as playing football and having weekly yoga sessions. This helps children to build their core strength and gross motor skills.
• Staff teach children from a young age how to be independent. Children are encouraged to tidy up after themselves. Staff use a sand timer to help to prepare children for transitions during the day. Children wash their hands before mealtimes and learn the skills to use cutlery when eating. This helps to prepare children for school.
• Children learn about the joy of books. Before mealtimes, children excitedly choose a book and listen with intent. For example, when they listen to the story 'When I am Sad', they recall familiar parts of the story and are able to point to parts of their body where sadness can affect them. This helps to teach children about their feelings and emotions.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They appreciate leaders and staff, who help to settle their children quickly. Parents say that the settling-in process, along with the ongoing communication, helps to reassure them that their children are safe and secure.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the monitoring of teaching to ensure that all staff have a shared understanding of the curriculum intent and this is embedded in practice.