Rising Stars Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time in this welcoming nursery, where there is a very relaxed and happy atmosphere. Children have strong bonds with the warm and approachable staff who care for them. They develop firm friendships with the other children. Children are safe, settled and confident in their surroundings and lead their own play. They are kind and considerate to each other. For example, children invite others to join in their play. Children are independent. They serve their own lunch, pour their drinks and help themselves to snack when they are ready.

Children's early mathematical skills are developing well. They learn to count, recognise numbers and match number to quantity. Children use pens and chalks to make marks, and they communicate to staff what they are drawing. Children develop their small-muscle skills as they dig, pour and mould sand. Children develop a knowledge of letters and sounds. They demonstrate high levels of self-esteem and talk with pride about the creations they make.

Children who speak English as an additional language and those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive effective individual targeted support. Consequently, any gaps in their learning are closed quickly. Children develop a positive attitude towards learning.

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

• Managers have worked closely with staff from other early years settings and local authority advisers to implement changes. As a result, they have addressed all the actions raised at the last inspection and made significant improvement to the service they provide.
• Managers have a broad well-sequenced curriculum in place, which covers all areas of learning and is linked to the learning needs and interests of the children who attend. Managers ensure staff understand and implement the curriculum effectively.
• Managers have high expectations for all children. They monitor children's learning well and provide swift intervention when children require additional support.
• The manager monitors staff teaching practice through regular peer reviews and supervision meetings. Since the last inspection, staff have undertaken a variety of training courses to promote children's learning, including how to support language development.
• Parents comment on the good progress their children make, particularly in their language development, behaviour and confidence. Managers and staff have a unique relationship with parents. They help parents to access different support services, such as English tuition and advisory organisations. Staff hold workshops for parents, such as 'promoting healthy lifestyles.' They help to arrange health visitor appointments and enrol children with dentists.
• Staff promote positive behaviour. Children listen, respond to instructions, are polite and behave well.
• Staff speak several languages, in addition to English, including Urdu, Hindi, Swahili, Somali and Punjabi. Children who attend, and their families, use a variety of different home languages. Staff use their language skills effectively to support children's learning and build strong partnerships with their parents.
• Staff want to ensure they provide children with plenty of opportunities to make the best possible progress in their learning and development. Staff gain a lot of information from parents about their children's previous learning to help identify their abilities when they first start. They use this information to plan a wide variety of activities and experiences that link to children's learning needs and interests. Staff adapt their teaching well to support children with SEND. All children make good progress in their learning and development.
• There is a strong focus on promoting communication and language. Staff show a genuine interest in what children say. They use their good questioning skills to extend discussions with children and help to build on their vocabulary.
• Staff help children to learn about a variety of different festivals celebrated around the world. However, staff do not fully enhance children's understanding about how families differ in modern Britain.
• Children enjoy the time they spend outdoors. They are confident and proud as they demonstrate their increasing physical skills as they 'whizz' along on wheeled toys. However, staff do not fully promote children's learning potential in the nursery outdoor area, because they have not yet developed the area to help to promote children's skills in all areas of learning. This does not support children who prefer to learn outdoors.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to increase opportunities for children to develop a broader understanding of diversity
• support staff to enhance the outdoor learning environments to provide learning experiences that are rich, varied and stimulating, particularly for those children who prefer to learn outdoors.