Seasons Private Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and develop, and they plan a curriculum that supports children to progress to the next stages in learning. Staff plan for and meet the needs of individual children and tailor their teaching to ensure that they extend and challenge children to help each child meet their potential. Staff meet children's emotional needs well. Babies settle easily and benefit from warm and nurturing interactions with their key person. Staff are responsive to children and acknowledge their feelings. Staff teach children vocabulary to help them express their emotions and support them to find ways to self-regulate. Children form strong bonds with staff and make friends easily. Children are observed spontaneously hugging their peers and working together to complete tasks, such as tidying up.

Young children excite in being read to and join in with familiar stories with great enthusiasm. They use a wide range of vocabulary to talk about the characters in the book and what they can see in the pictures. Toddlers use their critical-thinking skills to design and build a train station from blocks. Pre-school children learn about how things change when things are added and taken away and learn mathematical concepts, such as capacity and weight, as they mix oats and water.

Children are supported by staff to be independent throughout daily care routines, and they are able to do many things for themselves without having to ask for help. For instance, they recognise when they are thirsty and freely access water from water dispensers. They are taught to use cutlery from a young age and learn to safely use china plates and cups that are fragile.

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

• It was identified during the inspection that the provider had not taken appropriate action in response to a previous significant event that the provider had not notified Ofsted or other agencies about. Despite this, the provider has since reflected upon this and has taken appropriate steps to address previous weaknesses. All leaders and staff are now clear and consistently implement the policies in place for safeguarding and supporting and managing children's behaviour, and fully understand the safe and appropriate use of physical intervention of children.
• Staff use observation and assessment well to identify areas in which children need additional support. They work closely with parents and other professionals to help close children's gaps in learning. Staff plan a broad curriculum that covers all areas of learning. They use children's interests well to plan things that children enjoy and are skilled at taking opportunities as they arise in play to extend children's learning and keep them engaged.
• Children develop good literacy, communication and language skills. Staff encourage and support children to have fun with words. They use songs and stories to help children hear a wide range of vocabulary. They skilfully question children so that children share their thoughts and views. They give good commentary to children's play and boost children's self-esteem, which helps them to be confident speakers.
• Overall routines in the setting are well established, and staff work hard to mirror children's individual routines from home to help children feel safe and secure. However, staff are not always responsive enough to enable them to meet the individual needs of all babies at group mealtimes as they transition between play, lunch and sleep. At times, this leads to gaps in interactions, and some children become unsettled. This makes times during the lunchtime routine chaotic for the youngest children.
• Children learn useful skills in preparation for school and their future learning. For example, they learn to use the toilet in plenty of time for transitioning into school, and they concentrate well on tasks and listen to instructions.
• Staff exchange information with parents on a regular basis to ensure that all parents are aware of their child's ongoing learning. They build good relationships with parents and work with them to help children feel settled and to offer a continuity of care. However, while strategies for sharing information with parents are in place, there is scope to work even more closely with parents to help them continue their children's learning at home to help them make the best possible progress.
• Leaders self-evaluate effectively and have a good awareness of what is working well and what they need to improve. There is a range of systems in place to enhance staff's professional development. For example, staff benefit from accessing specific training relevant to the children they are working with, for instance in regard to biting, to ensure that they use the right teaching strategies to support children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the management of mealtimes for the youngest children to minimise waiting times and to ensure all children benefit from a calm and social routine
• provide specific information to parents to help support them to extend their children's learning at home.