Rainbow Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel safe and clearly enjoy their time in this friendly nursery. They come in ready to start their day and are excited to see their friends and staff. Staff have high expectations of all children. They encourage them to think about how their actions affect others. This means that children are very kind to one another. They notice and care about how their friends are feeling. When frustrations arise, staff know when and how to step in to ensure that problems are resolved quickly and fairly. Children benefit from a range of interesting activities and experiences that build on what they know and can do. They have lots of opportunities to practise their skills and learn new ones, through their interactions with staff. Children are making good progress.

Daily routines are well established, and children feel secure knowing what will happen next. For example, at lunch time they discuss and look forward to the song 'who is sitting next to you?' that they will sing during afternoon register. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, staff ensured that children who were not attending nursery still felt involved. They sent activity packs home for children to complete and read stories for children to hear on their online applications. This helped to support their literacy development.

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

• Staff who work with babies have a good understanding of how young children learn and develop. Staff encourage babies to use their senses. They talk to them about how the sand feels and what the citrus infused water smells like. Staff support young children to learn to stand and walk independently, offering praise for their achievements. These interactions help children to develop in readiness for further learning.
• Staff plan activities based around children's interests and individual needs. For example, children who need extra help with their speaking skills have more one- to-one interactions with staff. Observation and assessment are used effectively to ensure that children's learning is sequenced well and is ambitious. Gaps in children's learning and development are identified and these areas are targeted by staff. This means that children do not fall behind.
• Despite the nursery only having a small area of outside space, managers ensure that children have daily access to the outdoors. Staff utilise the playing fields of a local school to allow children to run around in the fresh air and to hold a 'sports day'. This supports children's physical health.
• Staff encourage children's developing independence. Children wash their hands independently before eating. They know why this is important, as staff talk to them about good hygiene. Staff engage children in interesting activities to learn about oral health. For example, they learn how to brush their teeth properly by practising on pretend teeth. This helps children develop good habits.
• Managers hold staff in high regard and care for their well-being. Managers ensure paperwork is limited to only what is necessary. This means that staff spend more time interacting with children. Staff comment that managers are supportive and that their ideas are considered and implemented. Managers and staff work together to identify training needs and ensure training is targeted to benefit children.
• Managers and staff maintain effective relationships with parents. They take time to get to know families and offer support and advice. Staff share information with parents about their children's day. They offer ideas of how parents can be involved in their children's learning at home. Parents are happy with the care and teaching their children receive at nursery.
• Staff encourage a love of reading by engaging children in interactive stories. Staff use a range of language while reading. However, they do not always extend children's vocabulary as much as possible during other activities, for example by modelling new words for children to learn. This means that children's communication and language skills are not always fully promoted.
• There are a range of resources available to help children learn about different cultures. However, children do not consistently learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others. This limits children's understanding of the world and what life is like in modern Britain.
• The provider failed to notify Ofsted of a change in manager. This is a breach of the statutory requirements. However, their recruitment process is robust which has ensured the new manager is suitable. Therefore, there is no impact on children on this occasion.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enable children to consistently hear and practise new words to extend the range of their vocabulary
• build on the ways that children learn about the wider world and those people who are different from themselves.