Rydale Children's Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are encouraged by staff to have a go at challenging tasks. Two-year-old children smile with delight when they receive praise from staff for using a roller to flatten play dough. All children develop good physical skills and enjoy their achievements. Children engage in learning experiences that staff link to their interests. Pre-school children spend time filling up cups with various materials. They learn about how to use scissors on their own, safely, with close supervision and guidance from staff. Children then use sticky tape to join the cups together to make shakers. They have a wonderful time learning about the different sounds materials make with the shakers and banging sticks on pans.

Children build secure bonds with staff who support their transition into the setting well. Staff use kind words and their knowledge of children's interests from parents to help them settle quickly. Children learn to follow daily routines well. Babies are eager to sit down for a snack. Two-year-old children go with staff happily for their nappy changes, who explain that they can return to playing after. Pre-school children sit down on the carpet together ready for story time before lunch.

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

• Leaders think about children's learning needs and interests when planning the curriculum. They consider the impact on children from the pandemic and identify areas of learning that they most need support. Leaders expand on children's learning experiences with lots of physical play outside and messy play and baking inside.
• Staff support children's communication and language development well. They sing songs with children regularly to help their understanding and develop their speech. Babies and two-year-old children begin to join in with the actions to songs. Staff repeat the correct pronunciation of words when two-year-olds try to say more complex words, such as broccoli. Pre-school children can say the letter sounds for their names when asked by staff.
• Leaders provide staff with access to online training to help improve their knowledge. They hold meetings with staff and set individual targets to develop their practice. However, leaders have not been able to observe staff and provide them with coaching as regularly as they would have liked. As a result, staff interactions with children to support their learning are not at a high level consistently. For example, although leaders initially explain how they want staff to praise children, this does not always happen in practice.
• Children develop good independence skills to help them be ready for school. Babies are able to feed themselves with support from staff. Two-year-old children can find their peg and hang up their coat when asked by staff. Pre-school children learn to follow good hygiene practices. They wipe their own nose and put the tissue in the bin.
• Staff are good role models. They remind children about using good manners. Staff help children to learn how to play together nicely. They explain to children using the same building blocks that 'sharing is caring'. Children listen well and take turns with the blocks.
• Parents are happy with the care provided by the nursery. They like that all children are treated equally and that their children feel safe with staff. Parents share that they receive regular updates from staff on their children's development. They are given ideas about how to support children's learning at home linked to themes at nursery, for example collecting leaves to look at how they change in Autumn.
• Leaders and staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. They promptly identify when children may need extra support. Leaders and staff work well with parents and other agencies to help children with SEND make good progress. They ensure all children are included in the learning experiences available with a strong focus on what each child needs to learn next.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve frequency of coaching for staff so that their interactions to support children's learning are of consistently high quality.