Sunny Days Nursery (Birth - 5 Years)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children express that they are comfortable at this welcoming and well-equipped nursery. They settle quickly on arrival and are easily comforted by the friendly and nurturing staff team. Children are sociable and confident. They happily play alongside staff and their peers. Children demonstrate that they are familiar with nursery routines. They are cooperative, follow simple instructions and listen well. Staff have high expectations of all children and support them to understand key rules of the nursery, which contributes to children's positive behaviours.

Staff get to know children very well and ensure that their individual needs are met. They provide children with an abundance of activities that motivate and interest them, focusing on the skills they need to learn next. The broad and ambitious curriculum supports children to consistently display high levels of engagement and enthusiasm. In particular, children benefit from lots of opportunities that support their physical development. Babies thoroughly enjoy sensory experiences as they explore flour in an activity tray and make marks using a range of tools. Toddlers become engrossed as staff encourage them to roll out dough and carefully hide 'treasure'. Pre-school children take great pride as they work together with their peers to fill containers with sand and showcase their sandcastles.

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

• The nursery has recently recruited a number of new staff as the provision has expanded. New staff have benefited from a thorough induction period, and they understand their roles and responsibilities well. Overall, leaders have clear arrangements in place for staff supervision, which help to promote positive outcomes for children. However, leaders recognise that some newer staff require further opportunities to build on their confidence of delivering the well-sequenced curriculum to the highest level.
• Staff plan a vast range of exciting adult-led and child-initiated learning opportunities. They are passionate about ensuring that children acquire all of the knowledge they need for their eventual transition to school. Staff are skilled at identifying any gaps in children's development at the earliest opportunity. They work collaboratively with the special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator, external agencies and families to ensure that any children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported effectively. Because of this timely support, children with SEND make good progress alongside their peers.
• Overall, teaching throughout the nursery is good. In some instances, particularly with those staff working with toddlers, practice is extremely strong. However, at times, some newer staff working with younger children do not consistently provide children with opportunities to explore and test their own ideas. For example, they occasionally over direct children's learning during craft activities. This prevents younger children from fully developing their critical thinking skills.
• Staff place a strong focus on children's communication, language and literacy development. They meaningfully interact with children and carefully introduce new words to build on their vocabulary. Staff skilfully use open-ended questions to further build on children's language skills. Books are an integral part of the nursery's curriculum. This supports children to develop a love for reading from an early age.
• Children demonstrate positive attitudes towards their learning. They thoroughly enjoy spending time outdoors. Younger children benefit from regular fresh air, and eat healthy snacks outside. Older children have lots of opportunities to exercise their large muscles as they run, balance and pedal tricycles. This contributes to children's enjoyment of healthy lifestyles.
• Staff encourage children to become independent and take appropriate risks. Children enjoy having a go at trying things for themselves. Children confidently navigate an obstacle course in the garden and are supervised well by staff, who offer lots of praise and reassurance. This supports children to become resilient and learn to manage their own risks.
• Parent partnerships are a strength of the nursery. Staff recognise the importance of working with parents, and they share regular updates about children's interests and development. Parents comment that they are extremely happy with the nursery. They add that staff develop remarkable bonds with children and support them to learn key life skills, such as patience and kindness.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the existing supervision and support systems to further boost the confidence, knowledge and skills of newer staff in delivering the high-quality curriculum
• provide younger children with more opportunities to fully explore and test their own ideas in order to enhance their critical thinking skills further.