Shanklin Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, confident and settled as the caring staff welcome them into this loving and homely nursery. Staff cuddle babies gently. Babies babble and snuggle in to staff, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure. Toddlers and pre-school children arrive full of excitement and ready to start the day, as staff provide an enriching environment based on their interests.

Leaders and staff place a high value on spending time in the large, well-resourced outdoor area. Babies crawl and explore the safe outdoor space. Staff talk to them as they gaze at mirrored blocks and look at their reflections, building on their sense of self. Young children practise their balancing skills on bucket stilts while staff call out words of encouragement to them, building on their confidence and self-esteem. Older children climb on challenging equipment, such as a climbing wall. They skilfully balance on planks of wood, developing their gross motor skills, and staff enable them to manage their own safety.

Children curl up in cosy corners to look at books with staff, who read with expression and joy. Children confidently describe what happens next in the story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' as they post toy fruit in the mouth of the caterpillar puppet. These experiences promote children's early love of reading.

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

• The curriculum is well planned and leaders have considered what they want children to learn. Practitioners know the children very well and talk confidently about their key children. They have a clear plan of what the children's next steps are. This information is shared with all staff and parents to meet the individual needs of the children.
• Staff use numbers and mathematical language, such as 'big', 'little' and 'tiny', spontaneously and during group activities. This practice contributes well to the development of children's mathematical understanding from an early age.
• Leaders and staff have focused on supporting children's communication skills since the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff provide a wide range of speech and language resources to teach children new words. At times, however, staff do not repeat words back to children using the correct pronunciation to further support their early speech.
• Staff help children to become independent from a young age. Staff support babies to put on their own bibs and feed themselves. Older children help the staff to sweep up after mealtimes, using a dustpan and brush. This gives them a sense of responsibility and builds on their self-esteem.
• Staff provide exciting activities that children are confident and keen to explore. For example, older children enthusiastically pick up paint brushes to use to explore in the water tray. At times, however, staff are too quick to redirect children rather than allowing them to lead their own play and explore independently.
• Staff support children to have a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. The nursery chef provides home-cooked meals that are balanced and nutritious. Staff teach the children that eating healthy food makes them strong and keeps their brains active. Children brush their teeth and staff explain to them why it is important to keep their teeth clean.
• Staff model good manners and encourage children to have good relationships with others. As a result, children are polite and understand the concepts of turn-taking and sharing.
• Parents are happy with the care and support that their children receive from the leaders and their key persons. They express their confidence about how happy their children are and how their independence is supported. They comment on how they appreciate the updates on their child's development and how they can support their children at home.
• The manager and owner place a high value on staff well-being. They work together to create a nurturing nursery with a strong family ethos. Staff speak highly of the support they receive. The manager carries out regular reviews on teaching practice and identifies specific development opportunities. This helps to develop staff's teaching skills, which supports children's learning.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. The special educational needs coordinator liaises effectively with other professionals to ensure that children receive the right support at the right time. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enable children to lead their own learning to support them to develop their decision-making skills
• support staff to model the correct pronunciation of words to further extend children's vocabulary.