Sunshine Kidz Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at this welcoming and friendly nursery. They enter the nursery with a smile on their faces. Staff offer children plenty of cuddles and comfort. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Staff successfully help children to manage their emotions. Staff talk to children, including the youngest, about how they are feeling. Children spend time looking at different photos that show a range of emotions. They also enjoy listening to and joining in with stories, such as one about a coloured monster, through which they learn to talk about and express their own feelings.

Staff provide children with a good range of experiences in which they readily participate. For example, younger children enjoy sensory experiences, such as playing with sand and water. They remain engaged as they make marks using chalks and create pictures using glue, feathers, and coloured paper. Older children enjoy joining in with group times, such as learning French and moving to music as they use ribbons to make patterns in the air. Staff readily engage with children as they play. This helps to extend children's learning and enjoyment. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning.

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

• The quality of teaching is good. Staff get to know children well and use their observations and assessments to plan what children need to learn next. However, they do not always focus enough on this during daily play opportunities to help children make even better progress in their learning.
• Managers reflect well on the service they provide. They understand the importance of identifying ways to continually improve. Staff benefit from ongoing support, mentoring and training. This helps to build on staff's already good practice. Staff express how well supported they feel in their roles.
• Staff promote children's communication and language skills. They engage children in regular discussions and conversations, taking time to listen to what children say. Toddlers enjoy joining in with stories and nursery rhymes. Pre-school children develop listening and attention skills as they start to listen to longer stories.
• Support for children with SEND is a strength of this nursery. The special educational needs coordinator has effective systems in place to ensure children receive support from outside agencies. Staff identify children's needs quickly and put in place any extra support children may need. Staff work closely with other professionals and parents to provide targeted support to help close any gaps in learning.
• Parents and carers speak highly of the nursery and staff. They express how much their children have progressed in their learning, especially with their communication and language skills. Parents appreciate the detailed information they receive about their child's care and learning needs. They say that their children are very happy to attend.
• Children's physical skills are developing well. Two-year-old children learn how to safely negotiate the slide, learning to climb up the steps and slide back down. Pre-school children develop their small-muscle skills as they handle tools when shaping and moulding play dough. They learn to negotiate space by using wheeled toys in the garden.
• Staff help children to develop their independence skills. Children are encouraged to learn to dress themselves ready for outdoor play. They help with tasks, such as tidying the toys away when they have finished playing. Older children confidently manage their own self-care needs, such as wiping their noses, using the toilet and washing their hands afterwards.
• Children generally behave well in the nursery. They show kindness and consideration towards others. They happily share and take turns with toys and resources. However, on occasion, some staff do not provide children with clear explanations about why certain behaviours are not acceptable. This means that some children are not always clear about the boundaries that are expected of them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the planning of children's learning to include their identified next steps for learning more into their daily play opportunities
• provide staff with support to ensure they consistently offer children clear explanations to understand the type of behaviour that is expected of them.