The Family Haven

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate that they feel happy and secure at the nursery and form good bonds with staff. They are keen to explore the activities set out and make choices about resources in their play. Staff are caring, welcoming and responsive to meet children's needs; they skilfully support less-confident children to settle on arrival to support their emotional well-being. Children develop their social skills, and staff teach them how to manage their emotions and play cooperatively together.

The manager and staff have high aspirations for children, get to know them well and know what they want children to learn. They assess what children can do and build on this to provide an appropriately-sequenced curriculum tailored to children's individual needs. Staff swiftly identify any delays in children's development and work with other professionals to provide children with additional support to help close any gaps. As a result, all children, including those who speak English as an additional language (EAL), those who are disadvantaged and those who have additional needs, make good progress from their starting points.

Children develop their confidence, independence and self-care skills. The youngest children learn to use cutlery to feed themselves. Staff teach them about the importance of putting on mittens to keep their hands warm before they go outside to play on a cold day. Older children get tissues from the dispenser and wipe their own noses, clean their faces with flannels and take their plates to the trolley when they have finished eating. Staff work with parents to toilet train children in readiness for school.

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

• The manager is passionate about providing a high-quality provision to help children succeed in their future life as citizens in modern Britain. She reflects on the provision and staff practice and completes regular supervision meetings. She provides effective support to enhance staff's skills to benefit children.
• Staff promote children's physical well-being and health effectively and meet children's care needs. Children enjoy regular fresh air and exercise in the outdoor area and on outings in the local community. Children benefit from a wide range of nutritious, freshly-cooked snacks and meals. Staff work with parents to support children's good health and hygiene routines. For example, children choose toothbrushes and toothpaste from a basket in the foyer to take home. Staff talk to them about the importance of cleaning their teeth at home and provide parents with information about registering their child at the dentist.
• Staff support children well overall to develop their communication and language skills. Children enjoy plenty of opportunities to engage in songs and nursery rhymes. Younger children repeat some keywords and giggle with delight as they join in with actions, as staff sing 'Incy wincy spider', for example. Staff provide a narrative for children's play and introduce new words constantly, such as 'penguin', 'bubbles' and 'present', to extend children's vocabulary. Children who attend the nursery have a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. The manager recognises the need to promote these as well as children's use of their home languages in the nursery further. Nevertheless, children develop a love of books and stories. They show good listening and attention skills during small-group story times. Children who speak EAL are able to recall favourite stories, such as when they re-enact 'The gingerbread man', during their imaginative play with small-world figures.
• Staff use mathematical language as children play. For example, they talk to children about colours, numbers, shapes and sizes. However, some planned activities are not always successful in building on children's mathematical learning.
• Children demonstrate good physical skills. Younger children wait their turn to climb up the steps to the slide and move confidently around the garden as they explore resources. Staff support children well as they share spades to make marks in snow. Older children are absorbed when they scoop snow into buckets and show good control as they use toy diggers. Children concentrate on activities for long periods according to their age, for instance, when younger children roll balls down ramps. Children develop their pincer grips in readiness for writing, such as when they experiment with a variety of pens and pencils, and carefully peel stickers off sheets to put on their drawings.
• Staff form positive partnerships with parents and use a variety of ways to communicate with them. Parents feel well informed about their children's care, learning and development. They speak glowingly about the nursery and appreciate the wealth of support they receive from staff and the centre.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• place a sharper focus on helping children to value their different cultural backgrounds, with particular regards to using their home languages in the nursery
• develop the programme for mathematics to build on children's previous learning and develop their mathematical skills further.