Round Chapel Families Project (Nursery)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff value children highly and are deeply appreciative of each child's unique personality. They make good use of information on children's interests and link this well to provide activities that children thoroughly enjoy. Staff interact with children positively by getting down to their level and using lots of gentle eye contact. They have high expectations of children and manage their behaviour successfully. Children behave well.

The curriculum is interesting and varied, and all children make good progress. Staff support children's creative development well. Children enjoy making their own fragrant play dough by adding herbs. They knead and roll the dough to make their own models. Staff provide children with a wide variety of tools and materials, such as vegetable dyes to make prints on cloth. Staff support children's mathematical development successfully. They use mathematical language to compare the size of vegetables, such as 'big' and 'small'. Staff teach children about patterns as they weave coloured strips through card and point out shapes in the environment. Staff support children's understanding of feelings well. They provide lots of visual resources, which they use to promote children's awareness of different emotions. Children gain good skills from well-planned activities.

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

• Children gain good communication, language and literacy skills. Staff read stories to children in lively tones, and children make spontaneous comments. They question children effectively and give them time to think and respond. Staff take care to find out about children's home languages and sing songs and rhymes in different languages.
• Children learn to do things for themselves. They skilfully make their own sandwiches at snack time. Children pour their own drinks and put away their used plates and cups. Older children put on their coats and shoes, and staff support younger children to attain these skills. Children learn to share and to take turns well. For instance, they share resources as they play in the pretend home corner.
• Staff have good partnerships with parents and give them regular updates on children's progress. They invite parents into the nursery to share their skills, including guitar playing. Leaders use a holistic approach to caring for the child that includes the whole family. Leaders have undertaken training in mental health and well-being programmes to promote best outcomes for children and their families.
• Leaders monitor and support staff effectively. They meet with staff regularly to discuss their work and offer assistance, where needed. They provide regular training opportunities to enhance staff skills and knowledge. For instance, staff attended courses on supporting children's language and literacy skills, which led to better outcomes in this area.
• Staff work well to support the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with parents and other professionals involved in children's care and learning. Staff form clear plans to promote best outcomes for children, which they review regularly. They monitor the progress of all children closely and readily act to plug any gaps in learning.
• Leaders evaluate all aspects of the nursery and set clear goals to build ongoing improvements. This helps to promote best outcomes for children.
• Staff prioritise children's safety. They check the garden and indoor areas to reduce the risk of hazards. Leaders have a robust recruitment procedure to ensure that staff are suitable for their roles. Staff teach children how to be safe. For example, children handle plastic knives with care and caution and act in safe ways.
• Staff teach children about oral hygiene through informative discussion and stories. They teach children how to keep their teeth and gums healthy as the children brush their teeth daily at nursery.
• The nursery provides healthy, nutritious meals and snacks for children. Staff ensure that children have fresh air and physical challenges each day. However, staff have not fully developed children's understanding of the value of eating well.
• Children have daily access to the outdoor area where they have opportunities to practise skills, such as balancing. However, staff have not considered how to support children's physical development more fully to promote a wider range of physical skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus staff's professional development more sharply to extend their knowledge on how to further enhance children's physical development
• strengthen the curriculum to support children's understanding of the value of eating well.