The Cottage Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and eager to play. They confidently explore the wide range of activities available with interest and curiosity. For example, the children laugh and giggle as they explore the cars and tubes. They play well alongside each other as they watch to see whose car can go the furthest. Children benefit from meaningful interactions with staff, which stimulates their learning and builds on what they already know. Staff demonstrate that putting the tubes up higher can make the cars go faster. This sparks curiosity and children begin testing other surfaces and angles to see if they can make the cars go faster.

Staff offer children lots of praise and reassurance to build confidence and self-esteem. This supports children to build secure attachments with their key persons. They openly engage staff and others in their play. Older children listen to each other and share ideas. They formulate a plan to rescue their friends from the moon. The children build a car out of crates and large junk modelling. They call staff by their names to join in with their play. The children discuss what tools they would need for the rescue. The children use their imagination to rescue their friends. Staff praise the children for their bravery and the children all cheer.

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

• The curriculum is a blend of both adult-initiated and child-led activities aimed at covering all seven areas of learning. The staff plan a wide range of activities based on the children's interests. They use meaningful interactions to extend children's learning past what they already know. Children discuss different dinosaur names, for example saying, 'that's a triceratops'. The children and staff discuss how the triceratops got its name, stating that 'it has three horns'.
• Children have opportunities, both indoors and outdoors, to build on their physical abilities. Older children run around the garden and climb a large wooden structure. They use crates and large junk modelling to create challenging obstacle courses. Younger children build strength in their muscles as they climb over the soft-play equipment and go up and down the slide.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff work closely with parents to ensure a consistent exchange of information. They have daily conversations with parents, offering support and giving information about children's development. Parents praise the staff for their support in getting their older children ready for school. They enjoy seeing the photos of what their children have done on the online application, which keeps them up to date on their child's learning and development.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is a strength of this nursery. Staff quickly identify children who may need support and communicate well with parents. The special educational needs coordinator works alongside other professionals to ensure that children receive the support that they need.
• The children show that they are confident communicators from a young age. For example, babies explore the sea creatures and hold them up in the air to gain the attention of the adults. They use single words such as 'shark' and 'turtle'. Staff repeat words back to the children, offering lots of praise. Older children talk to staff and visitors about their holidays and past events.
• Staff feel supported in their roles by their management team. They have regular supervision meetings where they receive feedback and guidance. However, professional development is not specifically focused to improve staff skills and knowledge further. As a result, the teaching standards are not consistent across the nursery.
• Overall, children behave well. Staff help children to understand how to share and take turns. Older children show respect for each other's views and ideas. They demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. However, the staff miss key opportunities to support younger children with beginning to understand how to manage their feelings and behaviours.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further support younger children to understand the impact their behaviour has on others to help them manage their feelings and behaviours effectively
• enhance the professional development and training of staff to focus on improving the quality of teaching further.