Serendipitys Day Nursery and Pre-school

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy. Staff have positive relationships with children and their families. Children separate from their parents well and when needed, staff give children a cuddle. Children are confident. Younger children wave and smile at visitors. Older children approach visitors frequently to talk to them. Children respect one another. For example, when pre-school children play a game, they wait for their turn and tell each other when it is their turn next.

Children understand the nursery routines. Younger children are supported to get ready for their morning walk. As staff get ready to put them in the pushchair, younger children put their arms out to reach for staff to lift them into the pushchair. Children understand what is expected of them and they behave well. For example, at group times, children sit and look at the staff member and eagerly wait to find out what is happening next.

Children enjoy the responsibility of completing tasks; for example, toddlers are asked to fill a jug with water to make dough. They go to the tap, fill the jug and carefully walk it back to the table, smiling. Children are proud of what they achieve. For instance, they clap to themselves when they finish singing, and toddlers say, 'yay' loudly. Children engage in activities for prolonged periods of time. Staff praise children and this helps them to carry on trying or continue engaging with the activity.

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

• Staff, leaders and managers have a strong understanding of how children learn. They use this knowledge to adapt the learning environment to support all children.
• Staff support children to understand their emotions; for example, staff talk to younger children about how they are feeling. While pre-school children sit eating their lunch, they talk about being happy, but sometimes feeling sad. Staff talk to the children about how they can help themselves to be happy, and explain that it is okay to feel sad too.
• Children are supported by staff to develop their physical skills. Staff encourage small babies to use low-level furniture to help them to stand up. Older babies are supported by staff to walk up the stairs. Toddlers fill up buckets using shovels and then tip them over. Pre-school children use different tools in the play dough. Outside, children make marks on the chalkboard, balance on wooden beams and ride bicycles.
• Children are supported to become independent. Younger babies are supported to eat using cutlery, as well as using their hands to eat finger food. Older babies feed themselves. Staff support children to load their cutlery with food when they ask for help. Toddlers self-serve their food, using large utensils. They use their own cutlery to feed themselves. Children try to pour their own drinks, and are supported by staff to know when to stop pouring. Pre-school children pour their own drinks, use a knife and fork to cut their food up and scrape their plates clean when finished.
• Parents say that they are happy with the nursery. They add that they have been well supported with their children's needs. Parents have regular communication with the nursery, and they are informed of what their children have been doing each day. The leaders support families to extend children's communication at home through providing a lending library. Parents receive newsletters and have meetings with staff. They comment that they find these beneficial for updates about their children's progress.
• Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills. For example, staff make eye contact and sounds with younger children. Staff comment, repeat back language, and use actions and gestures with older children. Generally, children are introduced to new language, beyond what they already know. For example, when children make dough, staff use a variety of words to describe what they are doing. However, this is not consistent; when children play with trains, staff ask them about the colour or shape, but do not introduce children to language beyond what they already know.
• Staff say that they feel well supported by managers. They have supervision meetings to discuss their interests and training they are interested in. Changes to staff circumstances and whether there is an impact on suitability is also discussed. However, this process is not as effective for developing staff's practice with children. For example, staff share their overall focuses for their key children, however, at times they do not have support on specifically how to improve their practice, to extend children's learning further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their interactions with children further to consistently introduce children to vocabulary beyond what they already know
• further develop processes to support staff to be clear on how they can improve their practice, to enhance children's experiences.