Rockingham Community Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children, including those who receive additional funding, make good progress from their starting point in learning. Children are happy, feel safe and content in the nursery. Children have settled well in the nursery and form secure bonds with staff. They are eager to attend nursery and choose an activity that interests them.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from tailored one-to-one support to help them make the progress that they are capable of. Children display positive attitudes to learning. For instance, they sing rhymes with enthusiasm and copy matching actions. Two-year-olds maintain a good level of concentration and engagement while looking at emotion pictures to help them understand different feelings. Some older children can recognise the initial letter of their names and begin to write them.

Children are generally considerate of each other and behave well. For example, they share and pass on resources while playing music with the xylophone. Children begin to understand how to manage risks and staying safe. For example, they know that they need to call 999 for help if there is an emergency or in case they get separated from their parents while out and about.

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

• The manager and staff have a clear vision for the nursery. They develop a broad and an ambitious curriculum to ensure that all children make good progress in their learning and development. They utilise additional funding well and set high expectations for all children's learning. For example, they purchase books and resources specific to children's individual learning needs to help close gaps in their development. All children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those whose first language is not English, make secure progress from their starting points.
• The key person system is effective. Children form close relationships with staff and build secure attachments. Staff have a good knowledge of what children can do and cannot do. They use this information well to plan and meet children's individual learning needs. Most children are prepared well for their next stage of learning, including starting school.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Staff use the online system and face-to-face communication well to keep parents informed about children's care and learning. In addition, the staff team seek and act on the views of parents to help identify areas to improve and drive improvements. Parents are kept up to date with staff changes and other welfare matters through regular emails and 'WhatsApp' communication. Parents express their satisfaction at the service they receive and feel reassured to leave their children at the setting.
• Staff working with children are very experienced and knowledgeable. They are prompt to identify and organise support, working closely with external agencies to help children who need additional help with their learning to catch up with their peers. Overall, staff interact positively with children and adapt their teaching to suit all children's needs. For instance, they use effective teaching techniques, such as picture cards and one-to-one activities, to help those children whose speech is delayed. However, on occasions, staff do not ensure that their teaching is consistent to keep all children engaged in meaningful learning, particularly when children play outside. In addition, some group time activities are not planned well to ensure that the younger children can participate fully.
• Children display good levels of emotional development. Staff encourage children to share and take turns. Moreover, they use effective explanations and distractions to help children learn to choose between right and wrong. This approach contributes positively to the way children behave.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve staff's understanding of how to implement the curriculum intent consistently, particularly when children play outside to help keep them meaningfully engaged
• reduce the size of some group activities so younger children can participate fully to help extend their play and learning.