Renaissance Nurseries (Armley)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe and secure in this vibrant nursery. Leaders focus on the key skills that they want children to have by the time they move on to school. They ensure that children learn tolerance and respect and that they build positive relationships with each other. They provide opportunities for children to learn about their cultures. They enjoy songs and dancing that represent their own cultures and backgrounds. They develop a sense of belonging.

Staff encourage a love of books and reading from an early age. They read books in different languages and that are popular in other cultures. Children learn to turn the pages and to respect their books. Staff support children to develop their language and communication skills. They repeat words back to children and comment as children play. All children develop a wide range of vocabulary.

Staff are skilled at supporting children to learn and understand what is expected of them. They encourage children to talk about their emotions. They do activities with them to help them to recognise their feelings. They sensitively support children to manage conflict and learn to share their toys with their friends. Children learn what is right and what is wrong.

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

• Staff introduce mathematical concepts. They teach children the names of shapes and count with them as they play. They count to 10 and then beyond, as and when children are capable. Staff help children to make comparisons between large and small. Children make good progress in their mathematical development.
• Staff support children to develop their physical skills. Children enjoy group sessions, where they take part in 'yoga'. Children listen to the instructions as they practise breathing in and out. They balance on one leg as they stretch up high. Children practise their hand-eye-coordination, as they thread laces through holes.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to express themselves. They enjoy dressing up in different dresses, materials and outfits. They pretend to be animals and their favourite superheroes. Staff help children to develop their unique personalities and characters.
• Staff use appropriate strategies to identify and close any gaps in learning. They implement focused interventions to help children. All children, including those form disadvantaged backgrounds, make good progress from their starting points.
• Leaders ensure that they build positive relationships with parents. Parents are engaged in their children's learning and are motivated to continue learning at home. Parents feel supported by staff, both in their children's learning and in their home lives. This is helping children to continue to make good progress in their learning.
• During changes of routine, such as when preparing for dinner, children occasionally become unsettled and disengaged. Staff are not consistently deployed to ensure a smooth transition between different parts of the day.
• Leaders monitor and evaluate staff practice. They identify the key skills that they want staff to teach children, such as turn taking and following instructions. They recognise staff strengths and weaknesses. Staff undertake professional development opportunities that help them to develop their skills and knowledge.
• Performance management processes are in place and help leaders to develop consistency in the quality of practice across the nursery. However, this is not yet fully embedded so that all staff skills and knowledge are of a consistently high quality and fully meet children's needs.
• Funding is used effectively to provide children with a wide range of experiences that they might not otherwise have. For example, children learn about water safety and enjoy trips to the farm, where they experience feeding the animals. This helps children to develop their self-esteem and confidence. They develop an understanding of the world around them.
• Leaders constantly review processes and procedures to ensure that children are safe. Managers take swift action when procedures are not followed. For example, when procedures for supporting children with allergies need to be reviewed, they do this immediately and monitor this to ensure that all children's dietary needs are met.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how staff can be more effectively deployed at key times of the day, such as lunch time, to keep children appropriately engaged
• use existing performance management processes to develop consistency in knowledge and skills across the whole staff team.