Snowflakes Day Nursery & Montessori

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive at this setting and form secure bonds with staff. Most children arrive at the setting happy and confident. Some children need a little more reassurance from staff as they are reluctant to part from their parents. Staff know how to assist children who may need extra support to settle. They are patient and understanding, which helps children to feel safe and secure.

Children benefit from a wide range of activities that staff design to capture their interests and develop the next steps in their learning journey. Babies learn about self-care and name their body parts while they play and pretend to wash baby dolls. Older children engage in messy play activities where they imagine spaghetti are worms in mud. Staff talk to children about the differences in size and children use words 'short' and 'long' in the correct context. Staff further develop children's learning by adding tape measures and encouraging them to talk about numbers.

Staff plan ambitious learning for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. For example, children are excited by 'bucket time' activities delivered by the special educational needs coordinator. Children wait in anticipation during the activity, remaining focused and engaged throughout. Staff are good role models and praise children's positive behaviours, especially when they are kind and caring towards other children. Children are keen to help staff during the day, such as when setting up activities or giving out plates and cutlery at mealtimes. They carry out their tasks with great pride.

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

• Teaching is strong. Staff have good-quality interactions with children. They plan activities that are age and stage appropriate with a clear intent and purpose. This means that most children remain engaged throughout. However, occasionally, some staff do not consistently recognise when quieter children are not fully engaged in the learning experiences on offer.
• Staff plan to develop children's small muscles and hand-eye coordination. They support younger children to use a spoon to move lentils from one container to another. Older children practise how to pour water from a jug into different-sized containers. As a result, children develop their overall physical coordination through age-appropriate challenges and sensory experiences.
• Staff provide children with an abundance of opportunities to promote their independence. For example, staff support babies to feed themselves using a spoon at mealtimes. Staff extend older children's skills by encouraging them to self-serve and wash their own plates and cutlery. Younger children make independent choices during their play. Once they have finished playing with toys and resources, they tidy up and return items to their original places. This helps children to develop fundamental self-care skills and independence for their future.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff have established strong routines, which children know and follow instructions well. Staff are quick to notice and respond to conflicts between children. However, at times, when children display unwanted behaviour, some staff do not always help them to understand the consequences of their actions and how others may feel.
• Parents are extremely positive in their feedback about the support provided by staff at the setting. Parents appreciate the flexibility and reassurance offered by staff during the settling-in process. They are particularly pleased with the daily updates they receive about their children's learning. Parents comment specifically on the improvement their children have made with their speech. Partnership with parents is strong.
• Staff celebrate the diversity at the setting. They use cultural awareness days to enable families to dress in their cultural dress and share food children and families eat at home. Staff count from one to 10 in different languages, for example French, during everyday activities. During story times, children are excited to sing nursery rhymes in other languages, such as Polish. Consequently, children learn about the world around them and develop an appreciation of diversity at this setting.
• Staff's well-being and career professional development are high priority. Managers develop staff by providing them with ongoing training. All staff have completed oral hygiene training. This enables them to teach children and parents about the importance of toothbrushing. Some staff have completed Makaton training, which helps them to communicate effectively with babies and children who are still developing their communication and language skills. Staff report high levels of well-being and say they can approach managers for support personally and professionally.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make sure that all staff consistently include quieter children more effectively during activities to enhance opportunities for their learning and development
• develop staff's skills so they consistently manage children's behaviour to support them to understand how their actions impact on others.