Shibden Head Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are caring and demonstrate enjoyment in their job role. They ensure children are safe within the nursery. There is an effective key person system in place. Settling-in visits are planned around children's individual needs. Where possible, children move rooms in their friendship groups. Prior to moving, they spend short periods of time visiting their new room. Parents spend time in their child's new room and meet the staff. This further supports transitions within the nursery. As a result, children are happy and settle quickly.

Staff have high expectations for children. They know their key children extremely well. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff spend time with parents when children start the nursery. This enables them to find out what children know and can do. They plan a range of engaging activities to teach children new knowledge and skills. This helps children to make good progress. Younger children use their senses to explore a range of items and textures. Pre-school children learn about the life cycle of the frog. Staff embed a range of new language such as 'frog spawn'. They talk about the 'texture' of the frog spawn like jelly. Children remain engaged in activities for extended periods of time. As a result, children behave well during these times.

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

• Practitioners read books and stories with enthusiasm. This supports children's early enjoyment of reading. They explain to children about features of the book, such as speech bubbles. Practitioners share fun facts from the book and develop discussions around these. For example, they teach children about what the word 'hibernate' means.
• Staff provide opportunities to develop children's understanding of information and communication technology. They use computers to develop children's understanding of subjects even further. Staff know how to keep children safe online. They ensure children learn how to do so and supervise them closely.
• The recently appointed manager and deputy manager are reflective. They are continually making improvements to the setting. They have a clear plan in place for further improvements they wish to make. They seek external support where necessary to develop the provision further. Implemented changes have had a positive impact on the quality of education. Staff comment positively on these changes.
• Routines are generally well planned throughout the day. However, at times, routines do not consistently support children to engage in purposeful learning experiences. The time it takes to get ready for lunch, for example, is too long. Some children become disengaged and distracted. This has a negative impact on how some children behave during during these times.
• There is a sharp focus on developing children's personal, social and emotional skills. This is in response to some gaps in children's knowledge and skills that staff have identified following the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff support children to take turns through play. During a water play activity, practitioners explain to children why they should not splash too much as other children do not like it. This helps children to consider other children's feelings.
• Staff know children with SEND very well and how to support them to fully access the curriculum. Staff use a range of strategies to support these children and implement them well. For example, practitioners use visual timetables so that children understand what comes next. Overall, additional funding the nursery receives is used effectively. However, this is not fully evaluated to ensure all children in receipt of this funding are consistently benefiting from the activities.
• The manager supports staff and apprentices to understand their role and gain childcare qualifications. She regularly observes staff and holds one-to-one supervisions to evaluate their practice. The manager models good practice and provides staff with a variety of training. This means practitioners, particularly apprentices, develop good teaching skills. Staff report that they feel very well supported.
• Parents are very happy with the care and education their children receive. They comment on the effective communication they receive. Parents praise how well staff get to know their children. This means staff understand how best individual children can be supported. They appreciate the nursery's flexibility to ensure their children's individual needs are accommodated.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the organisation of routines, especially around lunchtime, to ensure a smoother transition
• ensure additional funding is used more effectively to consistently meet the needs of all children receiving it.