The Co-operative Childcare Islington

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children learn and play in this welcoming environment. They have built good relationships with other children and the staff at the nursery. Children arrive with smiles on their faces and are eager to explore the interesting and engaging activities. This supports their well-being. Children behave well. There are clear and consistent expectations about how children should behave, and staff explain why certain behaviours are not acceptable. Children show respect for others, encouraging their friends to join in and take turns. Staff are caring and give praise when children learn new skills.

Children are enthusiastic and active learners. They are eager to explore the many interesting activities staff plan for them. They are curious to see how things work, for example mixing coloured paints and observing how they change. Children play well with their peers. They make the most of playing both indoors and outdoors, having fun as they go. This supports their overall development. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, those from disadvantaged backgrounds and those who may need extra support are supported well by leaders and staff. They identify, refer and work with professionals to support them. This ensures that all children make good progress.

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

• Children's safety is a priority for leaders and staff. All staff have attended training that enables them to have suitable knowledge and understanding of safeguarding and child protection issues, including how to identify and refer concerns. Daily risk assessments are carried out before the children arrive, and the provision is clean and safe.
• Staff regularly observe and track children's progress. They plan activities based on children's interests and what children know and can do. Staff identify any gaps in children's learning and put appropriate support in place. Children are well prepared for the next stages of their learning, including moving on to school. Overall, the curriculum is ambitious and challenging for all children.
• Children are given lots of opportunities to sing songs, listen to stories and have conversations with each other. This supports all children, including those who speak English as an additional language, to make good progress in their communication and language development. However, on occasions, children are not given enough time to respond to questions posed to them, to further support children in their learning.
• Staff carefully plan activities to develop all children's physical skills. Young children cruise around furniture confidently. They enjoy running, jumping and throwing balls. Older children learn to balance and pedal on bikes. This helps improve their large-muscle skills. Children paint, squeeze play dough, use spoons to serve themselves food and pour water from jugs. This helps strengthen muscles in their hands.
• Children behave well and are motivated to learn. They build positive relationships with their friends and staff. They focus on activities well. Children are kind and help each other when needed. They have built up good relationships with each other.
• Staff support all children's emotional well-being, offering praise and reassurance when children need it. They interact warmly during care routines, such as nappy changes and rest times. However, some routines, such as moving from inside to outside and lunchtimes, are not as well managed as others in the setting. Children's play can be interrupted by carrying out tasks such as putting on coats and washing hands.
• When children first start and begin settling in, staff take time to get to know children individually. As a result, children have built secure relationships with their key person and other staff members. This ensures that they feel valued by all.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents are given updates on what their children have done through daily discussions and via the nursery app. Parents comment that the staff are friendly and caring. Also, since attending the nursery, they can see their children have developed in their physical, language and social skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff's understanding of children's language development and how to extend their learning
• improve how transitions for children are arranged to ensure that their learning needs are met all the time.