Scallywags Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are kind and caring and provide nurturing care for children. Children therefore feel safe and secure and enjoy their time at the nursery. Staff provide good levels of challenge to enable children to learn new things and build on their skills. Subsequently, all children make good progress in their learning and development. The curriculum is planned to introduce new concepts and understanding of the wider world. Older children excitedly recall planting activities and know that sunflower seeds need sunlight and water to grow. Toddlers snuggle up to staff as they listen to stories. Staff are skilled at engaging with children and supporting them to express their own ideas.

Babies benefit from a range of sensory experiences. Staff understand the needs of young children and support them to explore tactile materials. They play peekaboo with babies as they hide behind floaty scarves, and encourage sensory awareness as babies explore the 'moon sand'. Children's development is accurately assessed and monitored to ensure that timely interventions can be made to support children with additional needs. Staff understand how to build on children's skills to enable children to progress in their development. Children demonstrate good behaviour. They are supported to be kind to their friends and to share the resources. Children understand the routine of the day and know what to expect, which supports their emotional well-being.

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

• Leaders and managers are committed and have evaluated the setting well to identify appropriate areas to build on. The manager is enthusiastic and a good role model for staff. She closely monitors the curriculum provided to ensure that all children are supported to make good progress. Staff benefit from a range of training opportunities to support their professional development. This helps in raising the level of teaching further.
• Staff say they enjoy working at the nursery and they feel valued and supported. They work well as a team and are committed to providing good-quality care for children. Leaders ensure that a robust induction process is in place and that all staff know their roles and responsibilities.
• Staff are skilled at supporting children's language and communication. Songs, stories and rhymes are embedded into the daily routines. As a result, children are sociable and confident talkers. Older children confidently use mathematical language as they play. They talk about size, weight and measure as they explore the weighing scales activity. Toddlers recall family events and babies are introduced to new language such as 'spiky' as they explore textured balls.
• Children benefit from a wide range of indoor and outdoor learning experiences. Staff support children of all ages to develop their physical skills. Babies are supported with their mobility and older children are skilled at using climbing apparatus. Children learn about healthy lifestyles and enjoy healthy meals. However, on occasions, good hygiene practices are not consistently followed, as babies do not always have their hands washed prior to eating.
• The arrangements to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are good. The lead coordinator is very experienced and knowledgeable about her role. Systems to identify where children may need support are good and early help is sought promptly. Additional funding is used well to provide resources to support children's emotional security.
• Children are effectively supported to manage their feelings and emotions. Staff encourage children to think about the impact of their behaviour on others. Children express how they are feeling and respond to positive praise and encouragement from staff. Staff are skilled at using pictorial prompts to support children's understanding of the daily routines. This provides reassurance to children, as they know what to expect.
• Overall, parents are happy with the care provided to their children and they have seen children make good progress. They say their children are happy to attend and they enjoy listening to songs that children have learned at the nursery. Although parents say staff are caring and friendly, they are not always notified of changes to key persons as soon as possible. On occasions, key persons are changed quite frequently, which can impact on partnership working.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that all children consistently follow effective handwashing routines to fully support good hygiene practices
• review the key-person arrangements to provide all children with more consistency and to ensure that parents receive timely information about changes to their child's key person to support more effective partnerships.