Sunny Days Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly welcome the children into the nursery, showing interest in how they are. The staff form strong attachments with the children. This supports children's emotional development and helps them to feel safe. Children are well behaved, and staff address any unwanted behaviour. Staff discuss emotions when addressing behaviour. This helps children to understand their actions and supports them to make the right decisions.

There is a broad curriculum, which includes learning about the community. The nursery takes part in events that happen in the village, such as 'feast day'. This helps children to develop their knowledge and understanding of the world. There are plenty of opportunities for physical play outdoors. Children practise balancing on tyres and planks. Staff give children support and encouragement when needed, holding onto their hands and saying, 'Look, you're doing it, well done!' Children learn about risks, climbing on play equipment and going down the slide. Children talk about making sure no one is at the bottom, keeping themselves and others safe. The environment is interesting, and the children confidently explore. There are cubby areas on different levels. Children climb stairs to one cosy area, where they use torches to read books independently to each other.

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

• The manager has reflected on the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children that attend the nursery. As a result of this, the curriculum has a focus on developing communication and language. Pre-school staff encourage conversation and give children time to respond to questions.
• Staff promote children's imagination and role play. For example, they encourage children to create a bus out of a pallet and milk crates. Children use their imaginations as they pretend to travel to the farm on the 'bus' while discussing what animals they see on the way.
• Children enjoy reading a variety of books. The children hold the books correctly, turning the pages and talking about the pictures. Staff provide story props, such as wooden spoons with characters from the story, to increase children's interest and level of engagement.
• The staff promote children's personal independence skills. Staff encourage children to put on their own coats. Pre-school children pour their own water at lunchtime and wash up their own plates. This gives children chance to practise important life skills.
• There are lots of opportunities for making marks. Children enjoy using chalks outside. They draw around staff and their peers. This supports developing their fine motor skills. The children find this activity extremely enjoyable as they laugh at the shapes they make.
• Staff in the pre-school room give children interesting items to paint, which provokes conversation. For example, the children were given daffodils that resulted in conversations around being outdoors and seeing them grow. At times, during some adult-led activities, staff do not consider the learning needs of the most-able children, to further challenge and extend their learning further.
• There are opportunities for the children to develop mathematical skills and language. The children weigh coloured oats on a scale, then pour the oats into different-sized pots as they talk about 'more and less'.
• The parents are very happy with the nursery. They receive regular verbal feedback on their children, including photographs of what they have been doing. However, key persons do not always share the targeted next steps the children are working on with parents.
• The manager is passionate about providing a high-quality provision. She is currently working with another provider to evaluate and improve practice. This includes further training for staff.
• The staff are happy working at the nursery, and this shows in their interactions with the children. The staff have effective supervision sessions, which helps support their well-being.
• The staff support children undergoing assessment for special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work in partnership with parents to develop plans so that these children make progress. When children with SEND transition to school, the staff have meetings with the school to discuss the communication needs of those children. This helps children to have a smooth transition.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance adult-led activities to provide more challenge for the most-able children
• develop the key-person role so that staff are sharing information with parents about their key children's identified next steps.