St Bernards Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Before children start attending the nursery, staff visit them in their homes. This enables children to get to know the person who will be caring for them, promoting children's emotional well-being. Children show positive relationships with staff. For example, in the baby room, children smile at staff when they play peekaboo games with them from behind a curtain. Children in the toddler room are supported by staff to share when they play with toys, using words such as 'first' and 'next' to help them know when it is their turn. Children learn how they can keep themselves safe. This includes taking part in lockdown drills with staff to help them understand what to do in the event of a critical incident.

Children are keen to engage in learning through play in this inviting nursery. This includes developing their hand-eye coordination and the muscles in their hands. For instance, in the baby room, children copy staff to scoop and pour sand into buckets. In the toddler room, staff encourage children to use plastic tweezers to pick up pom-poms. When they achieve this, children say, 'I did it,' showing pride in their achievements. Children are supported to understand what makes them unique. When they use chalk to draw people, staff help them to identify the different hair colours that they and their peers have. This contributes to children's understanding of similarities and differences.

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

• The manager and staff place a focus on supporting children's speaking skills. For example, in the baby room, staff use repetitive words to support children's developing vocabulary. In the pre-school room, staff introduce new words for children to learn, such as the names of herbs they touch and smell.
• Parents say that the nursery is like a family. They appreciate that children are able to care for animals. This includes children caring for two tortoises called Effy and Hugo. Staff show children how to be kind to them, such as how to feed and pet the tortoise. This is particularly beneficial for some children who do not have pets.
• Staff share information with parents about their children's learning and development. Parents are invited to attend workshops that help them to support their children's diet and safety at home. For example, they are invited to attend workshops about first aid and cooking healthy meals.
• The special educational needs coordinator shows a good understanding of how to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This includes arranging social communication groups for children to attend to help develop their language and social skills. However, some small, planned group times are not as effective as others. Occasionally, staff in the pre-school room do not help all children to benefit fully from the learning being offered. For example, some less confident children do not receive as much interaction from staff as others.
• Staff know the children well and follow their interests. For example, when children in the pre-school room like to make drinks, staff provide a pretend drinks machine for them to use. This helps children to develop their imagination and build on their role-play experiences.
• Children in the pre-school room are given gentle reminders to use good manners, such as when they ask for cutters when they play with dough. However, staff do not fully support children to learn how to take turns in conversations and to listen to the views of others. This results in children talking over each other.
• Staff support children to learn skills in preparation for their move on to school. This includes encouraging children to be independent and manage their self-care skills. For example, staff help pre-school children to learn how to dress and undress for physical activities. They ask children to serve themselves food at lunchtime.
• Staff say that they feel supported by the management team with their well-being. They attend training courses to help develop their knowledge of how to promote children's safety when they sleep. This includes ensuring that the temperature in the room is appropriate and they complete thorough checks on children regularly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their interactions with all pre-school children during small-group times, including those who are less confident, so they get the most from the learning offered
• help staff to encourage pre-school children to learn how to take turns in conversations and to listen to the views of others.