Rising Stars Nursery & Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a vibrant environment, which is welcoming and safe. Children are very well settled, happy and have positive attitudes to their play. They are independent and choose the activities they like to play with throughout the day. Staff provide an engaging curriculum that keeps children active and involved. They plan exciting and challenging experiences to motivate children's learning and development. Staff interact positively with children and make activities enjoyable. Staff encourage and support children's communication and language skills effectively. For example, children begin to verbally express their needs at a young age in response to staff's interactions. Staff introduce new concepts and vocabulary to children in a variety of ways, such as they use props, puppets, books and picture cards.

Children behave very well. Staff treat children with kindness and respect. Children receive consistent praise and recognition for their achievements. This promotes children's confidence and self-esteem. Children benefit from various activities that promote their understanding of equality and diversity. Staff celebrate children's cultural backgrounds through music, food and family traditions. They also value and recognise the different languages spoken by children and their families, inviting parents to read stories in these languages. This approach helps children to develop a strong sense of community spirit. All children, including those in receipt of additional funding, make good progress from their starting points in development.

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

• Staff use observations and assessments well to plan an ambitious and exciting curriculum that promotes children's curiosity and exploration. For instance, they introduce children to the concept of weight using vocabulary related to floating and sinking. Staff encourage children to experiment with objects, such as corks, flowers, leaves and pebbles. They help children to learn which items float or sink. However, staff do not always adapt activities to engage the quieter children fully.
• Staff support children's fine motor skills. For example, they encourage children to use scissors to cut and snip dry leaves, and thread pipe cleaners through the holes of a colander. However, in their eagerness to assist, staff do not consistently provide opportunities for children to express their own ideas and thoughts.
• Staff offer children imaginative experiences. For instance, older children use real vegetables to pretend to make potato and carrot soup in the role-play kitchen. In the garden, they enjoy exploring the sand and soil, digging up the carrots they planted from seed.
• Older children are well prepared for school. For example, they practise making marks and some can read and write their names. Children use various tools, such as colour markers, chalk and paintbrushes. They enjoy writing and drawing purposefully. Additionally, children develop strong mathematic skills, such as by counting accurately and recognising numbers as they post small hoops onto pegs.
• Children have many opportunities throughout the day to get fresh air and exercise and explore natural resources. For instance, they enjoy climbing, sliding and crawling through tunnels. Children also learn how to ride safely outside on various wheeled toys.
• Staff engage enthusiastically with older babies, encouraging their independence and exploration of various resources, such as rice, shiny sensory materials and textured books. They model sensory experiences, such as sprinkling coloured rice through their fingertips. Babies learn to become focused and display good concentration.
• Staff build strong partnerships with parents and ensure that there is an effective two-way flow of information about children's care and development. This supports parents to continue their children's learning at home. Parents feel well informed and supported. They enjoy the regular conversations and termly meetings about their children's progress.
• Leaders and staff have put in significant effort since the last inspection to enhance their practices. They effectively monitor staff's performance through regular supervision sessions. Leaders have sought professional support and training, including assistance from the local early years advisory team. They have worked diligently to address the identified areas for improvement. Leaders have enhanced their own and their staff's knowledge and understanding of how to plan and teach a challenging and ambitious curriculum effectively for all children at the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider more closely how to adapt activities to ensure that all children, in particular quieter children, fully engage and benefit from the learning opportunities
• strengthen opportunities to extend children's learning further so that they consistently have time to think of ideas and responses for themselves.