Sunny Days Childrens Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are settled and have strong bonds with their key person. Staff are very nurturing, and children are often seen laughing with staff and enjoying cuddles. Children confidently explore their play area and choose to join in activities that engage their interest well, such as a tea party or doctor's surgery with babies. Together with staff, toddlers sing songs, clap their hands and join in with action rhymes, which promotes their communication and language development.

Children have the freedom to explore their indoor and outdoor environments. They have access to a large outdoor space, which gives them a variety of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Children have fun as they run, climb and ride bikes. This encourages them to engage in daily exercise and develop a healthy lifestyle. Pre-school children show great enthusiasm as they make bridges to balance on in the garden. They enjoy working as a team and discussing the different ways that they can get across. Staff encourage them to count as they step and use language such as 'more' and 'longer' to develop early mathematical vocabulary. Children show good spatial awareness and perseverance as they explore their environment.

Children behave well. They share, take turns and help each other. Staff support children's emotional development successfully. They help older children to discuss and understand their feelings. Staff are gentle and reassuring with children, which helps them to feel secure. Children develop strong relationships with staff and each other.

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

• The manager actively spends time in the rooms and carries out observations of staff practice. She gives ongoing feedback to staff, helping them to reflect and develop their own skills. The manager carries out supervisions with staff and checks on their well-being regularly. A wide array of training is offered to staff, helping them to continually develop. Staff state that they feel supported by the manager and others around them.
• Staff provide an interesting environment, and children demonstrate confidence in choosing what they would like to play with. Children play well together and involve each other in their games. Older children giggle and talk with their friends as they try to build ramps for their cars in the construction area. Younger children concentrate as they eagerly push balls down the hill, watching them roll to the bottom.
• Children interact respectfully with each other. Staff use positive language to support all children to understand right and wrong. For example, staff gently encourage children to use 'kind hands' and 'inside walking feet'. Staff praise children when they offer to share by themselves, such as offering their brushes and jugs to their friends during water play.
• Staff focus on promoting children's independence from an early age. Children learn to wash their hands prior to mealtimes, and older children find their own pegs with their belongings. However, this is not supported consistently by all staff. For example, staff step in too quickly to help with tasks that children are able to do for themselves, such as pouring water and wiping their nose. This does not offer the best possible encouragement for children to confidently practise these skills in preparation for school.
• Staff are good at planning a variety of activities that interest children. For example, children participate in an activity where they learn to clean the dirt off pictures of teeth with toothbrushes. They learn about oral hygiene and the importance of keeping their teeth clean. However, staff do not always provide opportunities for all children to be involved and miss using age-appropriate explanations to help support children's understanding further. This can result in children being left out of learning or not making the most out of every learning opportunity.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Staff use an online app and face-to-face communication to keep parents informed about children's progress and their care. Parents comment how happy their children are.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to promote children's independence and self-care skills more effectively and consistently
• review the organisation of adult-led activities so that all children can participate, ensuring that staff challenge all children's learning and development.