Sunrise Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children at this small, calm nursery settle well into the daily routine. They form good attachments with staff, who care for them and help them to make friends. Children enjoy a comprehensive curriculum through a range of adult-led and child-initiated activities. Children engage fully with their play and concentrate on tasks which they finish to completion. They smile proudly when staff acknowledge their efforts and offer praise for their achievements.

Children make good friendships at nursery. As their peers arrive in the morning, they greet them cheerfully. This helps children feel welcome and experience a positive start to their day. Staff are clear about the nursery rules and help children to understand how to behave to keep everyone safe. Children navigate the stairs carefully when it is time to go out, they help tidy toys away when they finish playing and they are respectful to others. This supports children's understanding of expected behaviour and allows them to make a positive contribution.

Children's independence is well supported throughout the day. They learn to make choices and take responsibility for their actions and the resources they play with. This helps children learn the skills they need for the next stage in their learning, including starting school.

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

• Children follow instructions well. When it is time to come together for singing time, children eagerly join their friends on the carpet. Every child gets the opportunity to choose a song for the group to sing. Children take turns and participate fully alongside their friends. Staff ask children to remember the actions and words, which supports children's recall skills and supports their early language development.
• The nursery has a long-standing arrangement with the local library, whereby children visit for a weekly story session. This is a much loved part of children's nursery experience. When it is time to get ready to go, children eagerly put on their coats and line up calmly. Alongside the availability of books at the nursery, the library trips develop a love of reading. Children are excited to explore stories, learn about the world and share their knowledge.
• Children participate in a short, daily, age-appropriate meditation exercise, which helps them to learn to be calm and reflect. The youngest children sit, put their hands together and close their eyes for a short period of time. Children are eager to participate and they remain calm and quiet. Staff support children to use this skill when they become angry or upset. This supports children to moderate their own behaviour. However, staff have not fully considered how they can help children even further to learn the vocabulary they need to recognise, name and express their feelings.
• All children benefit from precise plans to support their individual learning based on their interests and attainment goals. The special educational needs coordinator works with parents and external agencies to develop comprehensive plans for children who need additional support to help them make good progress. This means children with special educational needs and/or disabilities get timely help and support when required.
• Parents share their positive experiences of the nursery. They say their children are extremely happy and settled. Some parents volunteer to help support the nursery by contributing their skills to help promote it and produce a regular newsletter. Leaders highly value parental engagement and encourage a community focused ethos. This helps parents feel confident to share ideas and be part of ongoing improvements to the nursery.
• Leaders have recently improved supervision arrangements to support staff more effectively. This helps individual members of the team to have clear knowledge and understanding of their roles and the professional development they need to improve their teaching skills. This is not yet fully embedded to support staff reflection and continue to improve practice across the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help children to learn the vocabulary they need to recognise, name and express their feelings
• embed recently improved supervision arrangements to support staff reflection and continue to improve practice across the setting.