Super Kiddies Day Care.

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and are excited to attend nursery. They have adapted well to the new routines and settle quickly into the care of the staff. Children build strong attachments with adults and their peers, resulting in them thriving in the friendly and nurturing environment. The nursery is well organised and resourced, enabling the children to play and explore. Staff pride themselves in providing challenging and exciting activities for all the children, along with planning that captures the children's interests. This supports them to develop a positive attitude to learning.

Staff know the children very well and are sensitive to their individual needs. For example, they ask younger children if they are ready to have their nappies changed, helping them to feel engaged in their care routines. Staff carefully position themselves to support communication and use sign language and visual timetables to help support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Younger children work together to build tall towers and count the large bricks as they do so. They persevere and re-build their structures and laugh when they fall over.

Children excitedly play games with staff; they name some body parts and balance buckets on their heads as part of a game. Older children are keen to join in with their superhero theme and they kindly share resources to make masks and capes. Through discussion, staff extend children's imaginations and children tell their peers about characters, their mission and where they are going to visit.

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

• Leaders and managers have high expectations for all children. They monitor and use assessments effectively and this helps them to identify any gaps in learning. A focus on personal, social, and emotional development is helping children to resettle and build confidence after the pandemic. Subsequently, all children make good progress, including those in receipt of two-year funding, those who speak English as an additional language and those children with SEND.
• Members of the leadership team show their dedication to raise the quality of the provision. Staff are passionate about their job roles. They enthusiastically plan activities to build on children's interests, and demonstrate their knowledge of the curriculum and children's next steps. However, sometimes staff need support when sequencing what children need to learn next.
• Partnership with parents and carers is a strength of the nursery. They speak very highly of the care their children receive and the good progress that they make. Parents feel involved from the start because staff provide regular feedback about their children's progress. Additionally, the online system allows parents to share their children's learning at home. Parents felt extremely supported during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. The staff made regular contact to check on children and families' welfare. Staff shared story sessions and singing with signing online. Leaders and managers delivered play packs to support individual children's needs; this ensured that no child were left behind.
• Staff promote daily routines to support children's understanding of healthy lifestyles. For example, children know the importance of washing their hands to reduce the spread of germs and know they need to cover their mouths and use tissues. They eat healthy snacks and lunches and enjoy fresh air and exercise. Children play games in the garden and particularly enjoy rolling balls down guttering. They fill containers with water and understand the need to care for the plants. Children make marks and extend their literacy skills with paint, pens and chalk.
• Leaders and managers monitor practice and set targets for ongoing improvements. Staff benefit from supervision, staff meetings and ongoing training. They say that they feel supported, and explain how changes have reduced the workload. Monitoring has identified that teaching mathematics is an area for improvement. Although some mathematical language, activities and concepts are being promoted with the children, this is not yet consistent across the different age groups or staff.
• Children become confident communicators. Staff actively use opportunities to speak to children and increase their vocabulary. They ask questions and give children time to think and answer. Staff share stories and encourage children to talk about their feelings and their home life experiences. They support children to develop a positive view of themselves and their peers. Therefore, children understand what makes them unique. Staff extend learning as they prompt memory call asking children what they learned yesterday.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to better understand the sequence of what children need to learn next
• strengthen the teaching of mathematics to provide consistency of practice across the nursery.