The Annex

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily to the setting and settle quickly into their rooms with familiar staff. The environment is bright, well designed and inviting for children. They develop close relationships with staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure. Staff are attentive to children's needs.

Children quickly find what interests them. For example, they use a range of natural resources to paint, using one-handed tools and experimenting with colours, cones and marks they make. They talk about their creations and the colours they use with staff. For example, in the sensory garden, they explore the natural environment, bringing apples to add to their play and mashing them in the mud kitchen. They say they are making mashed potatoes for mummy. Children choose which herbs to add from the accessible planting spaces. They encourage staff to smell these with them, both saying, 'mmm'.

Children behave well. Staff know the children well. Staff have received recent behaviour management training which has helped to strengthen the positive behaviour strategies they use. As a result, children listen and respond well to staff guidance and reminders to use their manners. Children say 'please' and 'thank you'.

Children enjoy their time in this setting. They are keen to take part in stories and offer their thoughts on what will happen next. Children show positive attitudes to learning. They gain the skills and understanding they need to prepare them for their next stages in learning.

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

• The provider has made significant improvements in the nursery since the last inspection. This has helped to raise the quality of provision that children receive. The provider has a well-designed curriculum that sequences the learning effectively for all children. Children's key persons gain valuable information from parents when children first start. This tells them what children know and can do so far and helps them to plan for what each child is ready to learn next.
• Staff regularly observe children to assess their progress and focus the planning of activities to ensure children are provided with opportunities to practise their skills and increase their knowledge. For example, babies snuggle closely with their key person to read a story together. Staff use different tones and introduce new words for babies to hear and use. Babies copy staff and whisper repeated words. They squeal with delight as they lift the flap to reveal a gorilla.
• Children practise their physical skills in a range of ways, using the different gardens in the nursery. For example, they have fun lining up and riding various wheeled toys around traffic cones. Children explore the sensory garden and make marks with water and paintbrushes. Younger children use brushes to wash their dinosaur figures.
• Children show increasing independence. Older children change their shoes before playing outdoors. They learn to manage their own personal care needs. However, there is further scope for children to develop independence by completing tasks for themselves, particularly at mealtimes.
• Staff promote children's speech and language development well. This includes children who speak English as an additional language and those who receive additional support to develop their speech. Staff speak clearly and model conversation well. Children are provided with ample time to think and respond to questions they are asked. For example, while children plant bulbs, staff ask how many they have already planted. Children hold the bulb proudly to show the inspector and respond when they are ready with the correct number.
• Children enjoy singing with familiar ring games outdoors. They eagerly follow the actions and sing the words they know. Children giggle with excitement when they quickly hide underneath the play parachute. Staff provide children with opportunities to hear different languages or those which may be more familiar to them. For example, children join in with songs from other countries. These songs are familiar as children sing some words and follow the actions in time with staff.
• The manager ensures that staff receive regular guidance and training to increase their knowledge. However, staff would benefit from support which is more focused to further embed what they know and build their confidence in their abilities. This would help to further enhance staff's own professional development.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They say their children are excited to attend each day. Parents report on how well their children's speech has improved. They say they are happy with the daily information they gain from friendly staff about their children's care and learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• increase the opportunities for children to develop independence and complete tasks for themselves, particularly at mealtimes
• strengthen the support for staff through the existing arrangements for supervision, to focus the monitoring of staff skills, knowledge and understanding to help increase their confidence in their abilities and enhance their own professional development further.