Spring Levels

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children respond happily to the friendly, welcoming staff and often go to them for spontaneous cuddles. Staff give a reassuring, caring approach, helping children settle easily in their care. Staff provide a broad curriculum that builds on what children know and can do. They help all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make good progress. Children enjoy their play and show curiosity in learning. Staff skilfully follow children's lead in play. For example, children thoroughly enjoy a favourite story about a caterpillar. They have fun dressing up as a caterpillar and act out the story. Children show fascination as they see how caterpillar larvae develop into a chrysalis. They show interest learning about the life cycle of the caterpillar and recall from the story how this will grow into a butterfly.

Children use their imaginations very well in their play, such as when they explore shaving foam and use this to make staff a cup of 'hot chocolate'. They like to join in with songs about animals and enthusiastically pretend to roar like a lion, jump around like a monkey or slither around the floor like snake. Toddlers smile as they try to put on staff shoes or hide their face under a hat. Babies begin to carefully push small trains around a track and cuddle up with their teddies on soft cushions. Children learn to be kind and helpful. They recognise the routine of tidying up their toys and help staff as they carry boxes to put away.

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

• Staff encourage children's communication and language very well. Children eagerly use their language to express their ideas. For example, they talk about the colours of the strips of pepper they have for a snack. They are confident to tell a visitor about their favourite colours. Staff reinforce the sounds and words that babies and toddlers start to make and encourage them to form simple two and three word sentences.
• Leaders and staff continue to develop their knowledge and understanding of childcare. For example, staff have raised their awareness of safer sleeping procedures for babies. However, the provider does not monitor all aspects of practice as effectively as possible. For example, to ensure leaders share all required nursery procedures with parents promptly, and can access all necessary information to carry out their roles and ensure the smooth running of the session consistently well.
• Staff support children very well to understand their emotions and learn how to share and take turns. They talk sensitively with children about why some behaviour may upset their friends and help them work out ways to self-regulate and play cooperatively.
• Staff continue to assess potential risks within the environment and teach children how to keep themselves and others safe, such as when using the climbing equipment. Staff deploy themselves well to support children's care and learning. For example, at mealtimes they sit with the children and encourage their good manners and social skills.
• Parents comment that staff involve them very well with their children's learning and give great support when helping to settle children into nursery. However, although staff make some initial contact with other providers that children attend, they do not continue this liaison to ensure they share more information about children's learning in each setting.
• Children enjoy a well-balanced menu of nutritious food and staff have recently improved their procedures for managing children's dietary needs. They encourage children's understanding of how to keep fit and healthy. Children enjoy playing outdoors or going with staff on local walks or to a nearby play park. Staff gently help babies to gain confidence in their mobility. Babies carefully climb up the low steps on a climbing frame and then smile with delight as they glide safely down the slide.
• Staff observe children's play and monitor their progress well. They encourage children's enjoyment of counting, such as to sing a favourite song about how many 'green and speckled frogs jump off a speckled log'. However, although children become confident with counting, staff do not always support their recognition of written numbers and how these link to quantity, consistently well.
• All children show they enjoy stories and books and staff encourage their early literacy skills effectively. For example, children like mark making with colourful chalks or making patterns with their fingers in shaving foam. Older children listen intently to a favourite story and eagerly join in with the repeated refrains saying, '...and he was still hungry'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the systems of monitoring all aspects of practice to support all staff to implement these consistently well
• improve systems of liaising with other providers children attend to share information and provide a more consistent approach for their care and learning needs
• make more use of opportunities to help children learn about linking written numbers and quantity to develop their early mathematical awareness further.