Saltway Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff prioritise children's safety and ensure a safe and welcoming environment. For example, leaders deploy staff in ways that help ensure children are closely supervised at all times, including at the beginning and end of each day. Parents and children are warmly greeted and children show they are happy to enter the nursery. Staff are kind, positive and encouraging in their interactions with children. This helps ensure children are relaxed and content. Children clearly enjoy being at nursery.

Leaders have supported staff well to develop a clear curriculum of learning which focuses on the broad areas of development where children show they need most support. For example, staff have focused effectively on helping children consider the needs of others and develop strategies for dealing with their emotions. The success of this is seen in the good behaviour seen throughout the nursery. Staff are equally as successful at supporting all children's developing language skills. This includes when they have identified that children need some extra support to catch up with their peers. Staff model words and phrases clearly and regularly sing and read with children. Children develop a wide vocabulary and the confidence to enter into conversations with adults and other children.

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

• Staff make accurate assessments about children's progress. When they identify any gaps in children's knowledge or skills they put in place successful strategies to support. For example, staff work closely with parents to help children learn new words and develop their speaking skills.
• Staff place a high priority on reading to children. Babies enjoy snuggling up with staff to look at books. Older children enjoy story times in small and larger groups. Staff encourage children to look at the illustrations, and talk about what they see. This supports children's early literacy skills, as well as encouraging concentration and developing children's natural curiosity to learn.
• Leaders have successfully helped staff develop their understanding of the importance of planning a meaningful programme of learning for children. Overall, staff plan well for all children. However, sometimes staff do not fully consider children's stage of development when organising activities. This results in some children finding it hard to fully join in and get the most out of the experience. For example, some planned activities to encourage early mark-making rely on children having skills beyond those expected for their age. At some singing times, children show they need more help to learn the words and actions to songs.
• Staff plan well for children's physical development. Staff working with babies ensure that resources are organised effectively to enable babies to move in different ways, pull themselves to standing and begin to walk confidently. Older children have lots of opportunities to use malleable materials and to move around energetically outside. This all help develop children's muscles and coordination, as well as helping them gain a positive view of following an active lifestyle.
• Staff provide resources that support learning and exploration. They communicate with children in ways that encourages them to think and problem-solve. They teach children lots of new skills. However, sometimes they do not recognise when it would be beneficial to join in more with children's self-chosen play. For example, children sometimes show that they need more adult engagement to ensure their imaginative play further extends and embeds what they already know and can do.
• As children progress through the nursery staff support them well to learn to do more and more things for themselves. For example, staff teach young children the skills they need to prepare for toilet training. Once children are ready staff support them well to begin to manage their own toileting.
• Leaders work together effectively to support staff and make ongoing improvements to the nursery. The focus on staff development has led to staff being much more confident in their teaching skills. For example, staff are very confident in using a range of strategies to support children's behaviour and language development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine curriculum planning so learning experiences more consistently take account of children's current stage of development
• support staff to develop their skills in helping children learn well during periods of self-chosen play.