The Avenue Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children delight in being in this welcoming, safe and nurturing environment. Parents comment that their children do not turn around and wave, as they are so eager to meet their friends and for their learning to begin. Children are busy and full of excitement at the freedom they have to develop their curiosity.

Older children relish the openness in the outdoor environment. They show high levels of determination and a have a go attitude to their learning. For example, children are unwavering in their resolve to complete an obstacle course without adult help. They work out for themselves how to manoeuvre crates and planks into position to enable continuous movements. Children's faces shine with delight as they achieve their goals.

Children's behaviour is very good. They show high levels of respect for each other, welcoming children into their play, happily sharing resources. This develops children's self-esteem as they understand that they are valued and their contributions are essential. Older children cheerfully tidy away resources, ensuring everything is returned to its correct place. Children enthusiastically take on responsibility for tasks. For example, they help to serve lunch, ensuring all children have food before sitting at the table themselves. Babies watch other babies with interest, inquisitive to see what others are doing and attempting to copy their actions.

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

• Staff know children very well. They confidently discuss where children are in their learning and what it is they want children to learn next. Staff plan activities to support children with their future development. For example, they move furniture to enable newly mobile babies to have the space to develop their skills of crawling.
• Staff are skilled in supporting children's communication and language. They know to get down to children's level as they speak to them and to speak slowly and clearly using the correct pronunciation. Staff tell children they are balancing as they walk along planks. They talk constantly to babies, describing what babies are doing. This helps to extend children's vocabulary from the very youngest ages.
• Staff recognise children's immediate needs. For example, when children show that they are tired, staff pick children up straightaway and cuddle them in. Staff use a quiet tone of voice as they sing rhymes and talk to children as they go to sleep. This helps children to feel safe and secure in the nursery.
• Children's love of books is fostered across the nursery. They cuddle babies as they point to pictures in books. Children confidently take books to staff, knowing that they will be read. This helps to support children's emotional well-being and feelings of being valued.
• The management team and staff are proficient in supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure that children and families get the help they need.
• Children in receipt of funding are very well supported and funding is targeted to meet their identified needs. For example, staff created a quiet area to enable children to have time out of the hustle and bustle of the nursery day. This has enabled children to settle more easily into the nursery.
• Parents are very complimentary about the nursery and the service it provides. In particular, parents stress how their children's confidence and independence skills have developed since beginning at the nursery.
• Staff enjoy working at the nursery. They are very well supported by the management team. For example, they have ongoing opportunities to engage in professional development to enhance their knowledge and practice. Developing staff knowledge helps children to benefit from a good range of learning experiences.
• The management team and staff do not fully consider how daily routines, for example routine nappy changing, interrupt children's play. This can prevent children from becoming totally absorbed in their tasks and hinders the development of their concentration skills.
• While some staff do bring mathematical language into children's play, they do not consistently maximise the opportunities to develop children's understanding of numbers and counting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of some daily routines to ensure that all opportunities are consistently used to extend and develop children's learning even further
• support staff to develop consistency in using numbers and counting.