Royston Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this nurturing and calm nursery. They quickly build secure relationships with staff. Babies snuggle with staff to enjoy their favourite books, while older children show care by brushing flour from staff's clothes and hands. Staff make the most of the information obtained from parents about their children's needs and interests to inform what children need to learn from the outset. Overall themes for each room are used to provide children with new learning experiences. Young children develop self-care skills through play, such as caring for toy dolls. Staff build on older children's curiosity to extend their knowledge of minibeasts. Children observe how caterpillars move and eat and excitedly discover a centipede in the garden. Staff use this moment to teach respect for living things, guiding children to carefully place it in a clear jar. Children examine it closely with magnifying glasses and are challenged to solve problems through trial and error, such as finding the correct lid for the jar. Babies engage in rich sensory play, exploring the texture of soil and natural materials.

Staff have high expectations of children and provide them with clear instructions. Older children wait to be signed out before going outdoors, and again when returning to their room. Children are given choices and encouraged to share their views. They vote if they would like to listen to a story or sing. Staff's effective use of praise motivates children to attempt tasks independently. As a result, children begin to develop self-awareness and manage their own needs, such as using cutlery at mealtimes or deciding when they need to rest.

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

• Newly appointed dedicated leaders invest time in observing staff interactions and model high-quality practice. They provide staff with valuable feedback, training and support. Overall, this helps to continually improve the quality of teaching provided. However, these arrangements are not yet fully embedded to support all staff to precisely implement a sequenced approach to children's learning. Nevertheless, leaders and staff have worked in close collaboration to completely review and improve the curriculum offered. It is now ambitious and supports children to develop key life skills in readiness for their next stage of learning. Staff monitor children's progress closely. They ensure that children who need extra help receive the right support at the right time. All children make good progress from their starting points. Any additional funding the nursery receives is used thoughtfully to support children's individual needs.
• Leaders prioritise staff well-being. Staff report that they feel happy and valued in their roles and there is a strong ethos of team work.
• Staff promote children's language and communication skills effectively. Babies smile with delight as staff consistently respond to their early vocalisations and babbles. This helps them to develop the pattern of conversation. Staff introduce older children to new words and their meaning, such as 'receptacle' as they persevere to fill different sized containers with water from the tap and carefully carry them to the mud kitchen. Staff ask children meaningful questions while they play. This motivates young children to practise speaking, and older children share their knowledge with friends using complex sentences, such as how all rivers lead to the sea.
• Children lead healthy lifestyles. They benefit from organised enrichment activities from a visiting professional, which increases their physical abilities through dance, music and movement. Children thoroughly enjoy time in the inviting outdoor areas, where they learn to assess their own risks. Older children understand the positive impact of a healthy balanced diet. They talk about food groups, such as carbohydrates and protein. However, the organisation of some transitions throughout the day mean that some children wait for extended periods. This is because staff do not fully tailor the routines to all children's needs. For example, all young children wait to wash their hands and find their crockery at the same time. Therefore, children are not always engaged in meaningful learning and able to continue their play.
• Children's behaviour is good and appropriate to their stage of development. They learn to share resources with their friends and begin to take turns. Staff consistently use story books and familiar characters to help children begin to identify and recognise different emotions. This helps children build a vocabulary to help them express how they are feeling. Staff know when to calmly step in to help children regulate their emotions and actions. For example, young children begin to splash their friends at the water tray. They giggle before progressively splashing harder. Staff explain to children that while this is fun at first, others are becoming upset. Staff give children different solutions to continue to splash without unsettling their friends. This contributes to the harmonious environment.
• Partnerships with parents are generally good. Parents are invited into the nursery to experience what it is like for children to attend and build on relationships with all staff. Staff keep parents informed of their child's progress and their next steps in learning through an online platform and daily verbal discussions. Parents comment how their children 'love to attend'. However, parents are not always informed how they can further support their children's learning at home. This means that children's continuity of learning is not fully supported.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• target existing arrangements to support the professional development of staff
• refine the organisation of daily routines for young children to minimise waiting times
• provide parents with ideas about how they can support children's individual learning needs at home.