Snaps Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the welcoming nursery environment. Staff know the children well and are nurturing and caring towards them. Staff implement a broad curriculum that supports children's development. Children demonstrate good attitudes to learning. They learn through an effective balance of child-initiated play and adult-led activities. For example, children make choices about what they play with and how. They practise the skills they have gained to lead their play and learning, such as using scissors to cut paper, and tweezers to pick up small objects.

Staff encourage children from a young age to put on their own shoes. Children prepare their own snacks and tidy away their toys when they have finished playing with them. This supports them to build on their self-care skills effectively. They have regular opportunities for physical exercise. Staff talk to children about the benefits of healthy eating and the importance of exercise as part of a healthy diet. Staff act as good role models. Children sit together at snack time, socialise with their friends, take turns and share toys. Staff use positive strategies to help children to manage their feelings and frustrations. This helps to support their emotional well-being. As a result, children's behaviour is good.

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

• The management team and staff have worked hard to make changes to the quality of the provision. They have taken steps to address the actions raised during the previous inspection. For example, staff deployment is now effective, and staff are able to focus on and fully engage with all children. As a result, children make a good level of progress and embed the skills they need for the next stage of their learning or move on to school.
• Staff know the children well and provide support that is tailored to meet their individual learning needs. They use observations and assessments to plan exciting and interesting learning opportunities. Staff demonstrate good teaching practice. However, on occasion, they do not extend children's learning as far as possible.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCO) provides targeted support for those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. She plans and reviews children's personal goals to ensure that they are receiving the right help. The SENCO provides staff with the necessary information that they need to help children to make good progress. Staff at the nursery work very well with other professionals and share information about children's needs.
• Communication and language are promoted well. Staff speak clearly and model good language. The children enjoy reading outside. Staff read stories with enthusiasm and use good questioning skills. As a result, children are developing good communication and language skills.
• Staff well support children who speak English as an additional language. They liaise with parents and learn words in their home language to help children to develop a good understanding of English. Staff monitor children's language development and assess their progress carefully. Children are beginning to develop their use of English to speak to others.
• Staff promote children's physical development. Children are supported to develop their large and fine motor skills. For example, children show good control as they skilfully use tweezers when serving their own snack. They also demonstrate good coordination skills as they practise throwing balls into the basketball net.
• Children are encouraged to count and recognise amounts and quantities. For example, staff help children to explore shapes and count when building with bricks. Children learn about 'more' and 'less' when filling pots with water and barley. Older children talk about size and number, and count in sequence during play. This enables them to practise and develop their understanding of mathematics, with support from staff.
• The manager and staff work extremely hard to develop positive partnerships with parents. Parents say that they are aware of their child's next steps in learning. They communicate daily with staff about the experiences that their children enjoy. Parents comment that feedback from staff helps them to support their children's learning at home.
• The manager undertakes regular staff supervision sessions and appraisals. These sessions provide staff with an opportunity to discuss their key children's development and identify any specific training needs. This helps them to further extend their professional development. Staff report that they feel valued and well supported.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to focus more closely on all available opportunities to challenge and extend children's learning even further.