Shooting Stars Nurseries Stourbridge

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from cheerful staff when they arrive at nursery. Since the last inspection, the nursery has adopted a curriculum that is based on children's individual interests. Children make choices about what they want to play with. This motivates all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to be highly engaged, independent learners. Staff support children's learning well. They provide opportunities and experiences that take account of children's interests. Furthermore, they use incidental opportunities to extend children's learning. For instance, they ask children to count the number of blocks in a tower they build, or to identify shapes they can see around them. This supports children's understanding of early mathematical knowledge well.

Staff forge strong relationships with parents. They gather information about children's individual needs, routines and interests. Staff work in close partnership with parents to provide continuity of care to ensure that children settle well. Furthermore, staff quickly build trusting relationships with children. They support children's physical and emotional well-being through effective care practices and positive interactions. For example, they soothe babies who are crying with plenty of cuddles. As a result, children feel secure and happy at nursery.

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

• There are effective systems in place for identifying and supporting children with SEND. Staff knowledge and observations of children mean that any concerns about development are noticed quickly. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with parents and staff to give children the support they need. This includes individual support plans and adapting teaching to help children with their learning.
• Staff provide plenty of opportunities to encourage and support children's physical development. For example, the furniture in the baby room enables babies to pull themselves up and explore their environment with ease. Toddlers climb stairs and enjoy squeezing the triggers on spray bottles as they wash the toy animals. Older children develop their core strength as they maintain balance when crossing a wobbly bridge in the garden.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, opportunities in the local community have been limited. However, the manager has already put plans in place for children to visit places in the local community, such as a retirement home and the local library. Furthermore, the setting works with parents to find out about family customs and celebrations that are meaningful to the children. These are incorporated into learning experiences that help children to develop their sense of uniqueness and deepen their understanding of wider society.
• Children generally behave well. However, some staff are not always consistent when explaining to children the boundaries and the expectations for their behaviours. This means that children do not build a better understanding of what is expected of them. As a result, they do not learn how to behave as well as they should, or how to manage effectively their feelings that can affect their behaviours.
• Staff speak clearly and model language well. They use stories and songs throughout the day in their interactions with children. This supports children's growing communication and language. There are some systems in place designed to support children who find communicating difficult. However, these are not used consistently. This means that some children do not make as much progress as they could in their communication and language skills.
• Staff successfully enable children to become increasingly independent in self-care and hygiene practices. From as young as babies, all children participate in self-care routines, such as washing their hands after using the toilet. For example, babies have their hands washed after nappy changes, while staff support older children to wash their own hands. As a result, children develop an understanding of the importance of hygiene and acquire the knowledge and skills they will need in later life.
• The manager supports staff well in their roles. The manager has effective systems to monitor the teaching of the curriculum to maintain consistently high standards. In addition, staff benefit from appropriate training and regular supervision sessions to support their continued professional development and deliver the best possible outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement strategies to support children's emerging communication and language skills consistently
• support staff to embed the expectations for good behaviour effectively so that children understand the rules and boundaries that are in place.