Sandytots

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff at this nursery show genuine care and affection to children. Children enjoy spending time with staff and seek them out for comfort when they are upset. Staff stay close to children who are new to the nursery and help them to feel safe and settled.

All children have a positive attitude to learning. Staff apply successful teaching methods to capture children's attention and keep them engaged in learning. Staff support children to learn about their own feelings and those of others. They provide activities that teach children to take turns, and as a result, children behave well.

Children enjoy learning outdoors. Staff teach them about the bugs they find. They model how to handle the bugs with care and find them a safe space to put them so children can see them. Children learn about the size of different bugs and how they move. They pay attention to this and are interested in what they have discovered. Staff support children to find a suitable place for the bugs to live outside and encourage children's thinking skills as they ask for suggestions.

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

• The curriculum is well understood across the nursery. Leaders have designed a programme of learning that is sequential and builds on what children already know and can do. Staff incorporate children's interests into the activities they plan, which means children are keen to explore what is on offer. Staff regularly review the skills children have achieved and create new learning targets for them. This means children make good progress.
• Children become good communicators. Staff choose familiar stories to share, which helps children to recall information they have previously learned. They ask questions to challenge children's thinking and give them time to respond. Staff learn to use Makaton to communicate with younger children and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with external agencies and parents to ensure that any extra support children require is coordinated.
• Children learn to be independent. Younger children learn to use spoons to feed themselves with support from staff. Older children use cutlery competently and manage their own self-care skills, such as using the toilet alone. This helps to prepare children for their move to school.
• Overall, staff deploy themselves well to ensure they can support children as they play. However, there are times when staff do not always consider how to be fully effective in their deployment. For example, there are areas where children play outdoors which cannot always be seen, and staff complete other tasks during busy routines rather than ensure the needs of children are being consistently met.
• Staff have opportunities to support their own professional development. Leaders identify training that will improve staff's knowledge and skills relating to the children they care for. They have regular supervision meetings to review their performance. However, support and coaching for staff do not currently focus enough on supporting them to understand and carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively. For example, some staff rely on others to take responsibility or wait for direction before carrying out routine tasks. Consequently, there is not always a consistent approach across the nursery.
• Leaders are reflective and respond to local and national developments to ensure their procedures are effective in keeping children safe. For example, they have recently reviewed their lockdown procedures in response to media reports concerning challenges in the surrounding area.
• Partnerships with parents are a real strength at this nursery. Leaders plan regular play-and-stay sessions for parents to attend, where they make connections with others and build relationships with staff. They benefit from seeing their children in the nursery environment and gain ideas on how to support learning at home. Parents comment that children are happy to attend, staff are friendly and they feel supported as a whole family unit. They see their children making progress and receive information daily about what children have been doing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements for supporting and coaching staff, so that roles and responsibilities are fully understood and carried out consistently across the nursery
• strengthen staff deployment so that children's needs are consistently met.