Rose Buddies Childcare Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from the friendly and caring staff at the nursery. They arrive happy and quickly engage in play and learning. Staff provide a nurturing environment for children. They get to know the whole family to help them understand their individual needs. This helps staff to support children's emotional well-being. The nursery provides a broad curriculum that is flexible to support all children's needs. Staff plan activities around children's interests, needs and abilities. For example, older children show a fascination for minibeasts. They discover ladybird eggs on leaves found in the garden. They excitedly look at the eggs through magnifying glasses. Staff skilfully talk about the life cycle of a ladybird. Younger children enjoy investigating sensory materials as they rummage through and feel the texture of cereal, rice and cornflour.

Staff recognise the importance of helping children to learn about sharing and turn-taking from a young age. Staff model good manners and remind children about friendly behaviours. This encourages children to develop their social skills and learn about what is expected of them. Children are developing good levels of independence. Older children put on their own coats and shoes before going outside. Younger children learn to feed themselves. Children learn about the things that contribute to a healthy lifestyle, such as exercise, eating a balanced diet and looking after their teeth.

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

• The provider and staff team have worked hard since the last inspection to make changes to the quality of the provision. They have taken steps to address actions raised. For example, they have continued to develop the curriculum, ensuring that it builds on children's individual needs, taking into account what they know and what they need to learn next.
• Staff know their key children well. They plan appropriate next steps and understand how to implement these in children's play. Occasionally, however, not all staff deploy themselves effectively to support all children's learning. This means children sometimes lack the interaction needed from staff to engage them in meaningful learning and play.
• Staff support children in their emerging understanding of mathematics. They model counting and use opportunities to extend children's mathematical language. For example, staff teach children to count as they jump from one mat to another. Staff introduce new words and concepts such as 'big' and 'small'. This helps children to start to compare different sizes.
• Children are provided with a varied menu of healthy meals and snacks, which they enjoy eating. However, the arrangements at mealtimes for younger children leave them waiting for long periods before receiving their meals. This leads to children becoming restless and bored.
• Staff provide good opportunities for children to develop their large motor skills. For example, they use outdoor toys, such as ride-on cars and sports equipment, to help develop children's large motor skills. Staff support children to develop their small hand muscles. For example, younger children manipulate dough using their hands and different tools. Older children mix cornflour and water with spoons. This helps to build the strength in their hands and fingers to support their early writing skills.
• Children gain a good understanding of the world. For example, staff teach the names of the different types of fruits and vegetables they grow in their allotment area. Staff plant flowers with children and teach them how things grow.
• Communication and language are promoted well for all children, including those in need of additional support. Staff sing and read to younger children throughout the day. They talk to children, modelling how to hold conversations. As a result, children are developing some of the conversational skills they will need for school.
• Staff provide children with a wide range of literacy resources that encourage them to develop their fine motor skills. For example, younger children explore dough with their hands, and older children work on pencil control as they draw maps. However, staff have not fully considered children's independent access to books and how to further encourage this during the session.
• Staff receive support to understand their roles and responsibilities. Regular supervisions provide staff with an opportunity to discuss their key children's development and identify any specific training needs. This helps them to further extend their professional development. Staff comment that the support provided for their well-being is good.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the deployment of staff to provide purposeful interactions for children to build on their existing skills and knowledge
• revise the arrangements at mealtimes so that younger children continue to build on their social interactions at the table and receive their meals when they are ready
• review the organisation of books to further encourage children's independent use and enjoyment of books to extend their literacy development.