Rainbow Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Happy and friendly staff greet children on arrival. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have identified children's confidence and ability to settle as areas for development. As a result, staff have implemented strategies to support children, such as a longer settling-in process based on children's individual needs. Staff successfully help new children to settle quickly and offer them lots of comfort and affection. There is an effective key-person system and children form strong bonds with staff. This helps to support children's personal, social and emotional development. Children confidently engage in play and clearly feel safe and secure. On the whole, children behave well and generally listen to and follow instructions from staff. They make friends and interact well together. Children respect staff and their peers alike.

Children enjoy daily physical play and fresh air and exercise. For example, they have access to a selection of outside spaces, including an allotment, a forest school and a play area. This helps to build children's stamina, strength and coordination. Staff identify independence and confidence as a focus to get children ready for school. For instance, children independently choose a healthy snack and clear cups and plates away once they have finished. All children make good progress, including children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

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

• Staff plan activities around overarching topics, such as seasons and life cycles. They use children's interests to help implement strategies to help them learn. For example, staff use children's interests in songs and actions to engage them and to help them recall the life cycle of a frog. This supports children to become confident learners and to learn about the world around them.
• Staff encourage children to recall knowledge they have gained from their previous learning experiences to reinforce their learning. For example, children illustrate during an art and craft activity they understand the life cycle of a frog. They confidently use scissors to cut out pictures of the life cycle and correctly stick them in order. Children recall that the frogspawn in the pond will become tadpoles and then frogs. Staff continually talk to children and ask them questions, which supports the development of their communication and language skills. This is of particular benefit to children who speak English as an additional language and children with SEND.
• Staff have high expectations for how children should behave in the nursery. They are quick to emphasise the nursery rules and remind children of the boundaries, such as being kind to their friends and using their 'kind hands'. However, on occasion, staff do not consistently implement the rules. For example, staff do not support children effectively to understand why they should not run around indoors. As a result, there are times when children are not engaged in meaningful learning.
• The management team supports staff well. Staff report that they are happy to approach the management team with questions. They feel that their well-being is very important to the management team. Staff regularly attend meetings and discuss different topics, including safeguarding concerns, planning and training. They feel that the management team respects their experience and knowledge. Staff make suggestions and implement activity ideas. For example, children make crowns and bake cakes to celebrate the coronation of the King. Staff undertake a number of training courses as part of their induction. They feel that they can request further training if needed, such as behaviour management training.
• Staff encourage children to take care of themselves. For example, before mealtimes, children are encouraged to wash and dry their hands and to use the toilet independently when needed. Staff assist those who are younger or need extra help. They are quick to remind children to complete tasks for themselves. For example, staff gently remind children to clear away their dishes and to wash their hands when they have finished. Children respond well to these instructions and demonstrate good independence skills.
• Parents praise staff at the nursery. They describe staff as 'lovely' and 'kind' and say that they feel very comfortable leaving their children in their care. Parents are complimentary about how staff help children to settle when they first start. On the whole, parents state they receive regular feedback regarding their children's progress and development. However, occasionally, some parents report that they would like to receive more timely information, for example to give more notice when events or changes are happening in the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all staff to be consistent in reinforcing rules and boundaries so that children understand what is expected of them
• develop a more consistent approach to ensuring effective communication with all parents.