Sunshine Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive to the setting happily. They benefit from nurturing relationships with staff and key persons, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Key persons know their key children well and plan activities to meet their needs and interests. Children have fun at the setting. They play outside in the water and laugh when staff pour the water on their fingers, tickling them. Staff and children giggle together as children draw pictures that they choose to take home. Generally, children explore the environment and enjoy engaging in purposeful play with staff and peers. Children are encouraged to develop their independence by putting their own bags away and putting on their own jumpers and jackets.

Children behave well; they share resources and use good manners. Children enjoy listening to a range of stories and join in with popular nursery rhymes that are familiar to them. This helps them to develop their communication and language skills. Children run and laugh as they take part in engaging outdoor activities. They enjoy finding transport toys that staff have hidden in the outside area. They then talk to each other about their favourite type of transport while drawing a picture of it on the garden chalkboard.

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

• The manager knows what she wants children to learn during their time at the setting. The manager and staff ensure the curriculum is broad and well sequenced in order to build on what children already know and can do. This means that the majority of children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff provide encouragement and opportunities for children to develop speaking skills. They consistently use open-ended questions and talk to children about what they are doing. As a result, children make progress in their communication.
• Staff promote positive behaviour well. Children are confident to engage with visitors and enjoy telling both staff and their peers what they are drawing or making. Children are excited to invite each other into their games.
• Staff are generally attentive to children's emotions and needs and nurture them in a caring environment. At times, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities become unsettled when staff do not engage with them or encourage interactions among peers.
• Staff closely monitor the progress children make and share this information with parents. Staff use the information gained from their assessment of children's learning to plan for what children are ready to move on to next.
• There are some opportunities for children to develop their physical skills, in particular their larger muscles. However, staff do not provide a range of activities to support children to develop their smaller hand muscles.
• Staff are keen to broaden children's knowledge and the experiences they receive. They invite visitors, such as the police into the setting. Children enjoy going on trips, such as to the local library. They learn about a range of cultural festivals and about similarities and differences in our communities.
• Parents speak highly of the setting. They say they feel well informed and receive regular communication from staff in relation to their children's development. Parents feel supported with helpful strategies to help their children to learn at home.
• The manager is proactive in seeking additional support from specialist professionals to ensure that children get the help they need to make progress in their learning.
• The manager is reflective and effectively evaluates the overall practice in the nursery. Staff meet regularly with the manager to review their own practice and personal development. Together, they have begun to put some plans in place to further enhance the experiences and learning opportunities that children receive.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make sure that all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, gain the support and interactions they need to enable them to make consistent progress in their learning
• broaden the range of opportunities to support children's physical development, particularly their fine-motor skills.