The Grove Daycare Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children of all ages and abilities are settled, confident and very happy during their time at the welcoming and inviting nursery. Staff have a good understanding of their well-thought-out and challenging curriculum. Staff successfully provide children with motivating learning opportunities, which they thoroughly enjoy. For instance, younger children explore animals and learn about the sounds they make. Older children discuss animals' habitats and learn about different patterns as they talk about how the animals look and what makes them unique.

Staff teach children about the benefits of following good hygiene practices. For instance, children independently follow thorough handwashing routines and talk about the importance of washing away the germs. Staff provide all children with good opportunities to build on their physical abilities. This is demonstrated when children confidently and safely climb and balance on a variety of obstacles. Staff support all children to develop good communication skills. They provide good-quality interactions and ask thought-provoking questions. Staff provide babies with a wide range of songs and music and use good facial expressions and keep them engaged using different tones of voice and gestures.

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

• The management team and staff use additional funding to support the individual needs of children well. They purchase a wide range of resources to support children to develop their communication skills, such as instruments to build on their interest in music.
• All staff establish positive relationships with children. They get to know their individual personalities and understand their likes and dislikes. This helps staff plan unique activities that they know children will enjoy. Children of all ages make good progress.
• Staff have high expectations of children. Therefore, all children, including those who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language, have a positive attitude towards their learning.
• All staff skilfully support children with SEND. They use helpful and effective ways to support children. For example, they use signs and visual aids to build on their speaking and listening skills.
• Overall, children are happy and enjoy their time at the nursery. Children are generally engaged throughout. However, there is an exception to this during changes in routines. For example, at times of change in routine, children become a little disruptive and appear unsure of what they should be doing next. Staff do not consistently organise and manage changes in routines effectively to ensure that all children remain engaged in learning opportunities during these times.
• The management team and staff establish positive partnerships with parents. Staff regularly share information with them about their children's achievements and their next steps in learning. Staff encourage parents to share children's experiences from home and help provide children with a good, consistent approach to their learning. Parents speak highly of the staff and praise the level of communication they receive.
• The management team closely monitors the quality of care and teaching that staff provide children. All staff evaluate their practice daily and discuss what has worked well and what they will continue to enhance further.
• All staff carry out regular training beneficial to their practice. This includes learning about how to support children with a variety of differing needs. As a result, staff implement practices that support all children, including helping them to regulate their emotions. For example, staff provide children with a safe, calm space to access if they become overwhelmed.
• Overall, children behave well, and staff support them to develop good social skills. For example, children share and take turns with good levels of maturity. Staff recognise and praise good behaviour. However, they do not consistently help children to understand the consequences of their actions. For example, when a child playfully throws an object, they are simply told 'no thank you' instead of being provided with an explanation as to why they are being asked to stop.
• Staff teach children about festivals and religions outside of their own communities and experiences. For example, children visit a temple to learn about the Sikh festival of Vaisakhi.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of changes in routines to ensure all children remain fully engaged throughout
• build on staff's confidence to consistently provide children with clear explanations of why they are being asked to stop certain behaviours.