Stepping Stones Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop their curiosity as they play and explore at this warm and welcoming nursery. For example, they take part in activities that encourage them to use their higher level thinking skills. Older children observe what happens when carbon tablets are mixed with water in a tube. They use their knowledge about what they have already learned to predict that the lid will pop off, and they giggle with excitement when it does. These experiences support children to develop positive attitudes to learning.

Children develop their physical skills in a variety of ways. For example, they learn how to safely climb on wooden play equipment or balance across a plank of wood. Older children delight in swinging on a rope swing in the outdoor area. This helps children to begin to understand how to manage risks as they play. Opportunities for children to build their independence skills are well thought out. For example, babies use slanted open-top cups to drink from at mealtimes. This helps to develop their mouth and tongue muscles in readiness for learning how to talk. Toddlers serve their own meals. They use real plates and glasses and take responsibility for looking after them. Children carry out special jobs, such as setting the tables for snack and mealtimes. As a result, their confidence and self-esteem grow.

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

• Children show that they understand what is expected of them. They listen when staff remind them to use their 'walking feet'. When children show exceptional behaviour, they earn a 'bead in a jar'. Children work as a team to receive a special group reward, such as an outing or pyjama day, when they have collected a certain number of beads. This encourages children to learn how to manage their own behaviour and try their best.
• Children explore with enthusiasm as they take part in activities led by adults. For example, children giggle as they use feather paintbrushes to make marks. However, at times, staff do not always consider how to fully support children in their independent play. For example, the environment is not always set out to enable children to select resources and play and explore independently. This does not fully support children's learning and development to the highest levels.
• Children of all ages thoroughly enjoy joining in with story and rhyme-time activities. They learn new words, such as 'castanet', as they do the action for this word. Children learn how to pronounce words and sounds correctly. However, due to the daily routines, children do not always get the opportunity to hear the end of stories and fully develop their love of reading. In addition, some singing sessions take place with large groups of children, resulting in high noise levels. This does not support quieter or less-confident children who may benefit from smaller, more-focused group sizes.
• Children learn to name their emotions. They can place their photo in a bowl labelled 'happy' or 'sad' to share with staff how they are feeling. Staff teach older children to recognise other emotions, such as angry or scared. This supports children to understand how they can express their feelings.
• Parents and carers say that their children look forward to their time in the nursery. They are supported to help their child continue their learning at home. For example, they can take suggestions for activities to do at home from the nursery's learning library. Parents are invited into the nursery to join their children for special events and celebrations. This extends children's experiences and further engages parents in supporting their children's development.
• The manager works with staff to identify where they need further support. She provides coaching to help staff work on individual areas for development. Leaders recognise the achievements of staff. This motivates staff to continue to improve their teaching skills. Leaders have accessed training from the local authority. This has supported them to make improvements since the last inspection and further raise the quality of the care provided by the nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the learning environment and the ways in which staff plan for times when children are engaged in independent learning to support children in making further progress as they play and explore
• consider the organisation of group activities to ensure that quieter children are further supported to join in and all children are able to fully focus on their learning.