Safari Cubs Curtis

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly in this happy nursery. They are confident, independent and well behaved. They develop warm and trusting relationships with their key person and all the staff, who are positive role models. The owner, who is the manager, and staff are friendly and very caring, especially to new children who are a little unsure. Staff provide a nurturing and engaging environment where activities reflect children's individual needs and interests. For instance, before children arrive, staff ensure that children's favourite toys and activities, such as dinosaurs, dolls and sand play, are readily available. This supports children's emotional well-being. They happily explore and learn in the relaxed environment which helps them build on what they already know.

The manager has a clear vision of the curriculum and ensures staff understand the key focus areas and intent. She considers the needs of the children and includes the views of staff and parents in planning for the curriculum and future development of the nursery. She has identified areas to monitor and improve. A sensory zone has been created to benefit children who need a space to unwind. Additionally, the well-qualified staff have attended training in safeguarding children with disabilities and in autism awareness to keep building on their knowledge.

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

• Staff work well as a team. They particularly consider children's next steps and the learning experiences they provide for children to achieve them. However, although staff are booked onto a number of specific courses to help them support children, the manager's coaching and supervision are not yet sufficiently targeted to staff's individual development needs. This does not help them raise the quality of education to the highest level.
• Staff encourage children to learn about similarities and differences and to embrace children's cultures. For example, each month, children study a different country. They try the national food, listen and dance to music and learn about the beliefs and traditions in that country. This helps children to respect other people and develop their understanding of the world.
• Staff support children's mathematical development well. They help children to match, compare and estimate groups of objects. For instance, children laid out spades in the sandpit to put them in order from the smallest to the largest. Staff extended the activity by asking how many spades were left when they took one away. This helps to develop children's mathematical thinking.
• Staff promote healthy lifestyles constantly throughout the curriculum. For example, they teach children that eating fruit and vegetables is very good for their bodies and teeth. Older children demonstrate excellent handwashing and self-care skills. Younger children learn to feed themselves from a young age, with staff close by to monitor them. Children are encouraged to discuss their oral health as they clean their teeth after lunch.
• Although the nursery does not have an outdoor area at present, children enjoy opportunities for physical activities throughout the day. They participate in regular 'wake and shake' routines and enjoy daily outings in the local community. Staff use areas of the large hall safely to encourage children to move and run around. For instance, the whole group enthusiastically played a game of hide and seek.
• The experienced special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) recognises when children need extra support. She seeks advice from other professionals about possible support and funding to improve outcomes for children. She works with staff to create individual plans and to organise small-group times to help children make good progress.
• Partnerships with parents are a strength of the nursery. Parent feedback is very complimentary. They say staff support the whole family, not just their children, who talk about the staff with real affection. Parents say they are kept well informed of their child's progress and useful information is shared in many different ways. These include daily messages, discussions and informative displays.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language development to a good level. For example, staff provide a regular commentary as younger children play. However, at times, this is not consistently high quality with a rich and wide vocabulary. This does not help extend children's language skills even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen coaching and training for staff so that it targets their individual development needs and helps raise the quality of education to the highest level
• build even further on staff's use of effective techniques to support younger children's language skills to a higher level.