Shining Stars Nursery & Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter the setting, showing they feel safe and secure. They confidently access a range of activities that staff have carefully planned. These match children's interests and support the next steps in their development. Animated staff make learning exciting. Babies eagerly join in with activities. They squeal with joy when they see the paints, and they copy the words modelled by staff. Toddlers gleefully explore sensory play. They delight in making new colours with shaving foam, create patterns with collage materials and build castles in sandpits. Pre-school children learn about healthy lifestyles. They talk about, and sort, healthy and unhealthy food and learn how to look after their teeth.

Behaviour and attitudes are good. Children happily engage in both child-initiated and adult-led activities. They focus on tasks that are appropriate for their age for extended periods of time. Staff encourage children to follow the rules of the setting. Children use good manners and respect the different needs and abilities of their peers. Pre-school children listen carefully and join in with whole-group sessions. They talk about what makes a good listener, describing how they do 'good sitting', use 'looking eyes' and listen to all the words. This helps to prepare them for school.

Staff encourage a love of books. They share interactive story-time sessions, and children join in with enthusiasm. Leaders supply all children with free book bags and encourage them to borrow books to share with parents at home. Staff have created story-time sacks with ideas for home learning. These include nature hunts and googly eyes for children to create their own stick men from a familiar story. This all helps to support children's communication and language skills.

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

• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress. The special educational needs coordinator at the setting works in close partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure that children receive the timely support they need. Developmental targets are planned, worked towards and reviewed regularly. Funding is used to provide toys and resources to match children's interests. This includes a sensory room that provides a calm, immersive space for children to explore. Furthermore, leaders employ additional staff to ensure that children's needs are met.
• Staff have created an exciting and challenging outdoor provision. Children access a woodland area and race tricycles around a racetrack. They have space to run freely in open spaces and enjoy carefully planned activities to support their all-round development. This helps to promote their physical and mental health and well-being. However, younger children do not have as many choices during the day to play outdoors. Even though they are excited and eager to play outside, they are not always able to do this as often or for as long as they would like due to staffing arrangements.
• Staff support smooth transitions. Books with family photos help babies to settle when they start. Children who speak English as an additional language have books about their home culture, with key words for staff to learn. Staff plan activities to help children prepare for changes in their lives, from the arrival of a new baby in the family to changing rooms at the setting and moving on to school. This helps to build children's confidence and resilience when coping with change.
• Management and staff have developed strong working relationships with parents. A clear two-way flow of information ensures that staff understand and support children's home learning. Early help and advice to support both children and families are provided online and during daily discussions. This all helps to improve outcomes for children.
• Parents talk positively about the staff and the setting. They describe staff as kind, patient and welcoming. Parents say staff connect with children and genuinely care about them and their child. They talk about being kept fully informed of their children's progress during daily conversations, updates on an online app and during parents' evenings. Parents state their children have come on in leaps and bounds in their progress.
• Leaders and managers have a clear and ambitious vision for further improving the provision, although, due to recent staff changes, this is not yet fully embedded into practice. However, management completes regular supervision of staff to ensure their knowledge and skills are up to date and to ensure that staff continue to be suitable for their roles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the staffing arrangements for outdoor play to enable younger children to experience and enjoy playing and learning outdoors more frequently and for longer periods of time
• embed improvement plans to further build on children's outcomes.