Sunny Smiles Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide a warm, welcoming and nurturing learning environment. Children benefit from strong relationships with staff, helping them to feel safe. As a result, children are confident to explore the environment and engage in the activities provided. Staff are nurturing and give babies the comfort they need, such as rocking them to sleep. As a result, babies settle quickly or seek out staff for reassurance when needed. Staff build positive relationships with parents. They gather lots of information about the children, which they use to help inform the curriculum and to plan activities.

Staff have realistic expectations for children's behaviour. They use effective methods to praise and reward children. This helps children to learn positive behaviours, such as sharing and taking turns. For example, children wait patiently for their turn to choose a song. Staff support children to understand their own feelings and emotions and those of others. Children show compassion when their friends are upset and offer comfort and reassurance. Staff provide an inclusive environment where each child's uniqueness is acknowledged and celebrated. Children learn about special events, such as Eid, to help them understand that people have different beliefs.

Staff place great emphasis on helping children to be independent. For example, children learn to see to their own toileting needs and to put on their coats and shoes. They capably serve themselves at mealtimes and pour their own drinks. Consequently, children develop many of the skills needed for future learning and school.

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

• There is a strong focus on supporting children's communication and language. Staff engage in meaningful discussions with children. For example, staff ask children pertinent questions when digging for carrots. This provides opportunities for children to use new words, such as 'compost', 'trowel' and 'scoop'. As a result, children become confident and articulate communicators.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is effective. Staff work with parents and professionals to monitor and assess children's progress. They make swift referrals to other agencies when they identify gaps in children's learning. The timely interventions and good partnership working help children make steady and sustained progress.
• There is a balanced curriculum that is based around children's interests. However, occasionally, such as during holiday periods, intentions for children's learning are less ambitious and the curriculum is not implemented as effectively. For example, learning intentions are not as well matched to children's individual needs. This leads to some children being easily distracted, and on other occasions, their learning is interrupted. This does not help children to build continually on what they know and can do.
• Overall, staff plan an exciting range of activities that spark children's interests. For example, children giggle in delight as they pour and fill different-sized teapots in the water play. On some occasions, the organisation of group activities is not as effective. Consequently, some children do not engage fully with the experiences and move on quickly.
• Children develop positive attitudes to learning and problem-solving. They enjoy working collaboratively with their friends. For example, staff support children to work out the best way to create a track out of large blocks. Children encourage one another to walk across the blocks and cheer when they succeed. This fosters children's confidence in their abilities and a positive attitude to learning.
• Mathematics is firmly embedded. Younger children are introduced to numbers and counting through songs. Older children count with confidence and recognise a range of numbers and shapes in the environment. They also develop an understanding of mathematical concepts, such as 'short' and 'long'. Consequently, children develop positive attitudes towards early mathematics.
• Staff help children to develop an awareness of good hygiene and health. Children know to wash their hands before meals and after going to the bathroom. Staff carefully introduce topics such as sun safety, and children are very aware of the need to put on sun cream and wear a hat when playing outdoors. This helps to keep children safe and learn how to stay fit and well.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents say they are aware of what their children are learning each day. Staff provide parents with ideas for activities to do at home, such as reading a specific story, to help extend their children's learning at home.
• The leadership team demonstrates a commitment to the ongoing success of the nursery. Staff receive regular training, support and supervision. As a result, they have a good understanding of children's needs and their own roles and responsibilities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor the implementation of the curriculum more closely to create more consistency in the quality and effectiveness.