St Aidans Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident, happy individuals who enjoy their time at nursery. They engage in a wide range of stimulating activities and are keen to share their experiences with staff and visitors. Children thrive in this welcoming, inviting and homely nursery. They explore and investigate the indoor and outdoor environment and show positive attitudes towards their learning. Children show good concentration and high levels of determination as they engage in play. For instance, toddlers delight in filling a bottle with porridge oats. They persist until the bottle is full to the top. Older children work together, showing a great deal of focus as they make vehicles using wooden bricks and wheels. Children are safe and have secure attachments with staff who are kind, cheerful and enthusiastic.

Children are well behaved and polite. Staff consistently remind children of the nursery rules. This helps children to understand what is expected of them. Older children work alongside staff to devise the nursery rules. Children and staff discuss how to make sure the nursery is safe and talk about the importance of kindness and respect.

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

• The nursery's curriculum is clear and concise. It is sequenced well, overall, so that children develop and build on their skills and knowledge across the setting. There is a focus on supporting children's independence and social and communication skills, so that they are prepared for future learning.
• Staff know their key children well and confidently talk about their interests and what makes them unique. They describe the progress children make during their time at nursery and talk about their next steps in learning.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are identified quickly, and support is put in place. Staff work alongside parents and other professionals to help children to achieve. Additional funding is used successfully to support children's learning.
• Children's communication and language development is supported well. Staff are good role models and interact positively with children. Babies enjoy singing familiar nursery rhymes. Older babies join in with the words and actions, as younger babies wave their arms in excitement.
• Children develop a love of books and stories. Staff use books successfully to support children's learning. For example, there is a focus on traditional tales woven throughout the setting. Children recall events and phrases from these stories and use it in their play. For example, as toddlers walk on balancing beams outside, they pretend to be a troll saying, 'who's that trip-trapping over my bridge'.
• Children are encouraged to be as independent as possible. Older children wash their own hands after using the toilet and before they eat. They help themselves to snack and pour their own water. Babies are urged to feed themselves using cutlery. However, they are not always encouraged to wash their hands before they eat, to support their growing understanding of good hygiene routines.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are happy and praise the clean, inviting and welcoming nursery. They say the manager and staff are kind and caring and share lots of information about their children's day. Parents state that their children are making progress and staff offer them lots of advice and help, for example with toilet training.
• Children learn about the world around them and nature though a range of activities. For instance, children grow their own food in the nursery garden. Children enjoyed celebrating the Queen's jubilee in the summer and have been learning about Lunar New Year recently. This helps children to understand about different people and communities.
• The manager reflects on the environment and the opportunities provided for children. She works closely with staff to provide children with a homely, inviting space where they can explore and develop their imagination.
• The manager provides ongoing training and supervision for staff and identifies any weaknesses in practice. Nevertheless, there is room to develop the supervision of less experienced staff, to help them to gain an even better understanding of the nursery's curriculum and how to support children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help very young children to begin to develop an understanding of good hygiene practices
• continue to support less experienced staff to develop a better knowledge of the nursery's curriculum and how to support children's learning.