Sparkles Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, confident and enjoy their time at the nursery. They form strong attachments to their key person and other staff in the nursery. Staff are kind, caring and nurturing. Children demonstrate good levels of enthusiasm and motivation for their learning. Children are well behaved and show care for each other. They understand about sharing toys and waiting for their turn. For example, during a focused activity, children patiently wait for their turn to plant sunflower seeds. Staff provide children with consistent praise and gentle reminders. This supports children's confidence and emotional well-being well. Children learn about differences and similarities in people in a range of ways. For example, they participate in activities throughout the year inspired by different religious festivals.

Staff help children to learn communication and language skills successfully. This includes children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). For instance, staff work closely alongside parents and ask for keywords in their child's home languages. Staff provide children with good opportunities to explore using all their senses. For example, children learn about different textures of sand, soil and dough. Staff introduce vocabulary, such as 'squash' and 'squeeze', as they manipulate play dough.

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

• Leaders and staff have a clear understanding of how to plan an effective early years curriculum. They carry out regular observations and assessments of children's learning and development. Staff use this information to plan a broad range of interesting and challenging activities. Consequently, all children, including those for who the nursery receives funding, make good progress from their starting points in learning.
• Staff's interactions with children are positive and encouraging. Children learn to count while playing with sea-life creatures and small-world vehicles. They enjoy making marks and painting with large brushes, which helps to reinforce their early writing skills. Children develop a wide range of skills and knowledge to prepare them for school.
• Toddlers enjoy taking part in dance, singing songs and listening to stories. Older children happily role play and pretend to cook meals and serve them to their friends. However, staff do not always ensure that children are fully engaged in their child-initiated activities. Subsequently, some children quickly lose interest and move from one activity to the next.
• There are good opportunities for children to develop their physical skills, such as riding on wheeled toys, learning to balance, run and jump safely. Staff play alongside children throwing and catching a ball in the nursery's outdoor area.
• Staff teach children the benefits of washing their hands during routine activities. Children learn about the importance of eating fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water. Children learn to be independent from an early age. For example, they help to set up snacks and proudly hang up their coats and bags on their pegs.
• Staff work closely in partnership with other professionals, local schools and specialist teachers to ensure that children's individual needs are fully met. This helps to support continuity of children's learning and development.
• The manager creates a positive and supportive work environment. She reflects on staff's practice through regular monitoring, daily discussions and in staff meetings. The manager ensures that staff access regular training to keep their knowledge and skills of early years up to date. Leaders and staff are experienced and meet regularly and evaluate their practice and provision.
• Parents speak highly of the friendly and caring staff. They comment on how eager their children are to attend and the good progress that they make. Parents are encouraged to support their children's learning in the home successfully. For example, staff provide parents with suggestions for games and activities that involve mathematics, exploring and problem-solving.
• Staff engage children in conversations about what they are doing in their play. They remind them about past activities, such as when children observed caterpillars change into butterflies. However, on some occasions, staff do not always provide children with enough time to respond and think through their ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop strategies to support children to focus on their child-initiated play activities and concentrate for longer periods
• provide children with more time and encouragement to respond to questions and to think through their ideas, to extend their learning even further.