The Dulwich Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Caring practitioners develop positive relationships with their key children. They warmly welcome them when they first arrive, which helps them to settle. Practitioners get to know children well and provide plenty of comfort and reassurance when needed. Older children know who to go to for support and include practitioners in their play. Children feel safe and emotionally secure.

Practitioners are good role models. They consistently encourage children to use good manners and behave well. Children follow instructions and remember daily routines, such as when they move from indoors to outdoors and when they prepare for lunchtime. Children demonstrate good behaviour and have a positive attitude towards their learning. They ask questions and talk about their interests. Practitioners plan experiences based on their questions to develop their awe and wonder further.

Practitioners teach children about good hygiene routines. For example, children use the 'nose station' independently. They look in the mirror while they wipe their noses. They put the tissue in the bin and wash their hands. Practitioners provide many opportunities for children to be independent. For example, babies make choices in their play and access resources themselves. Older children manage the stairs with supervision and serve themselves at mealtimes. This supports children to develop the skills needed for later life.

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

• Leaders have worked hard since the last inspection to address the areas of weakness. For instance, the environment is assessed for risk daily. Extra measures have been put in place to keep children safe, and staff are deployed effectively to ensure that children are well cared for. Parents are involved in the nursery and their views and feedback are considered. Parents speak highly of the nursery and feel supported by the team.
• Leaders support practitioners to implement a curriculum that challenges children and provides learning experiences based on their individual needs and interests. Practitioners know what they want children to achieve, and they implement learning programmes that support and build on what children know and can already do. This helps all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to make good progress.
• The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) supports practitioners effectively to ensure that children with SEND receive early help and targeted support. She works in partnership with parents and other agencies to provide a consistent approach to children's learning and development.
• Practitioners promote children's emerging language and speaking skills well.
• They implement visual support, such as sign language. Practitioners talk about what children are doing as they play and introduce new words to widen their vocabulary. They use group times to read stories and sing songs with children. They also do this one to one with children throughout the day.
• Practitioners support children who speak English as an additional language effectively. Children have practitioners who share home languages or use key words gathered from parents. Practitioners use a range of resources to support children further. For example, they create books for children with pictures and words in their home language, and they use recordings of parents singing or saying useful phrases. This supports them to settle and strengthen their communication skills.
• Overall, practitioners use questions well to assess what children know and further extend their knowledge. However, at times, some practitioners ask too many questions that require limited responses, such as 'yes' or 'no', and quickly repeat them when children do not respond. This means children are not always encouraged to think about their answers beyond a single word, and they do not have sufficient time to think and respond.
• Children use the outdoor space daily. They move freely and explore a range of equipment, such as climbing apparatus, stilts, and hoops. This gives them access to fresh air and the opportunity to move and strengthen their large muscles. Children strengthen their smaller muscles through a range of activities. For example, while making play dough, children use the muscles in their hands to stir and knead. This prepares them for learning skills such as writing.
• Children are offered healthy and nutritious meals and snacks. Children have access to fresh water throughout the day. Younger children are regularly offered water. Older children use water stations to fill their own bottles and the jugs for lunchtime. This supports children to be healthy.
• Leaders understand the importance of continuous professional development to help extend practitioners' knowledge and teaching of the curriculum. This supports them to meet children's learning needs. Training needs are identified during staff supervisions, and room leads set action plans for their team. Practitioners comment on the good support given by leaders.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend children's language and thinking skills further with the use of more effective strategies and give time for children to understand, think and respond.