Seaward Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very comfortable entering this warm and inviting nursery. They are greeted by staff each morning and separate from their parents happily. Children form strong bonds with staff and approach them with ease. Staff know the children very well and support them to settle by offering lots of reassurance as they play.

Children are motivated to learn and develop their skills. The manager carefully links the curriculum and stimulating environment to children's learning needs and interests. Children test out their ideas and explore different resources. Younger children experiment with musical instruments. They learn about cause and effect as they notice the sounds they make when they shake shakers or press hard on piano keys. Older children roll balls down ramps and try to work out the best angles for the ramps so that the balls freely roll down. Children make good progress in their learning.

Staff identify areas for development impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. They focus on providing opportunities for children to develop their speech and language. Children play well and socialise with each other. They form strong friendships and seek friends out to share experiences. Children enjoy large-scale drawing on the ground outside together. They talk to their friends about the pictures that they are drawing. Staff ask children lots of questions and promote good communication and language.

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

• Staff are caring and motivated to educate the children. They know all the children's interests and stages of development well and plan suitable next steps in learning. This helps to challenge children and embed their learning and skills. However, while staff are clear about the learning intentions they want older children to achieve, their teaching does not always focus on what they want children to learn next during activities. This does not fully support children's learning to a higher level.
• Staff have well-embedded routines to support children to understand what is expected of them and their behaviour. They use group activities to help children cope with transition times and feel more settled. Staff lead stories and singing to provide a calm period before lunchtime. Most children enjoy these activities and join in well, predicting what will happen next in a favourite story and copying actions. Staff are attentive to children's needs and recognise when they need additional emotional support, such as when older children become tired and need a cuddle.
• All children benefit from a range of home-cooked meals, cooked on site by the owner. She selects fresh ingredients to make the meals and caters for all dietary requirements and allergies. Staff talk to the children about what they are eating and encourage children to try new foods. Parents share their love of the meals provided by the nursery.
• Children have good opportunities to challenge their physical development, for example by climbing up a large climbing frame. Staff are deployed well and provide good supervision to ensure children remain safe. However, staff do not always help older children to consider problems and ways to manage risks for themselves. They can be too quick to intervene and solve problems for children. This does not allow children the opportunity to develop their problem-solving abilities and resilience skills.
• The manager is constantly evaluative of the nursery and the care and education it offers. She uses both professional and parent feedback to improve the provision. The manager seeks further training for herself and her staff to better support the children. For instance, recently, staff have completed training on mental health. This supports children's emotional development in helping to identify mental health concerns and challenges. Staff training provides them with strategies to deal with this.
• Parents and carers speak highly of this nursery. They say it feels like a 'home from home' for their children and that staff are friendly and always make time to talk at the end of the day. The strong communication between families and the nursery greatly supports children's emotional development. Parents appreciate the opportunities for the children to mix with other children of different ages at certain times of the day. They feel their children are well prepared for the transition to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• continue to build on staff's ability to implement the learning intentions during activities, to support older children's learning to a higher level
• allow children time to independently solve problems before stepping in to provide support.