The Eye Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff consistently engage in warm and friendly interactions with children. Children are confident to share their thoughts and achievements. For example, with staff support, children stand up in front of their friends and proudly share what they do at home with their family. This shows they are happy and feel secure in the setting. Staff are positive role models and praise children for good behaviour. Children are active outdoors as they take part in risky play on a range of equipment safely. Additionally, they benefit from a healthy and nutritious diet. This promotes their good health.

Leaders know the importance of working in partnership. They ensure families, as well as staff, understand the settings curriculum, which is led by children's interests and supports their individual progress. Staff plan exciting activities, such as play dough in different colours and smells, and a home corner with fresh fruit to practise their cutting skills. This helps children to naturally develop positive attitudes towards learning. There are effective arrangements in place to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) to ensure that targeted support helps all children make the best possible progress.

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

• Leaders demonstrate a good knowledge and understanding of child development. The curriculum is well designed and shows the sequence of intended learning for children to help prepare them for their future learning. Children flourish as staff provide a calm yet busy environment where they can engage in purposeful play and share previous learning.
• Leaders and staff adapt the curriculum to meet the needs of children who currently attend. For example, leaders ask parents what they feel their child is struggling with at home. As a result, staff incorporate this information into their planning as well as supporting parents with what they could do at home. This supports children to make good progress.
• The provision for children with SEND is effective. Staff liaise well with parents and other agencies to ensure that they receive the support they need. Staff focus their plans and interactions to ensure their learning needs are met.
• Staff use books to engage children in learning and promote language development. Additionally, staff know the importance of developing children's vocabulary, including early mathematical language, through play. For example, staff model measuring how tall they are with blocks, use language of more or less when exploring rice and encourage counting strands of spaghetti.
• Children are developing independence and self-care skills. They wash their own hands, practise cutting fruit and in role play develop skills, such as brushing hair. Children are beginning to develop an understanding of how to be healthy. For example, staff encourage children to drink water, especially when it is hot. However, staff do not always consider explaining to children how to use tools correctly and why these healthy choices are important.
• Children play alongside or with their peers, which promotes their social skills. Staff teach children positive behaviours and use strategies to support children in managing their behaviour. However, when children display unwanted behaviour, staff do not always help them to understand the consequences of their actions and how others may feel.
• Parents appreciate the communication between them and the setting, in particular with the manager and their key person. They comment on how their children are supported individually and with their development, in particular communication and language.
• Staff feel well supported in their roles and know their well-being is a priority. Staff comment positively about the recent changes to the layout of the setting and collection procedures. Leaders correctly identify areas staff need support and know the importance of ongoing monitoring of knowledge and practice. Consequently, staff morale is high, and they work well as a team.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop teaching further around self-help skills
• support staff to help children to understand the impact of their behaviour on themselves and others.