The Haig Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, safe and secure. They have developed warm and trusting bonds with their key person and the staff team. Staff are attentive to the children's needs and support them in a calm and nurturing way. Behaviour is good and the nursery routines are well understood. Children know how to share and take turns. They enjoy helping each other. For example, children are keen to help to tidy up and pass around the water jugs at lunchtime.

Children participate in the wide range of activities provided for them. For instance, they decorate paper plates to make masks that represent different emotions. Staff talk positively with children to help them to recognise their feelings and how to manage them appropriately. They read familiar stories with children about emotions in an exciting and engaging manner. Children concentrate and listen well.

Children are confident and independent. Older children talked confidently with the inspector and were curious about what the inspector was doing. Younger children enjoy reading stories outdoors and use small containers to transport mud into a tray to play with the toy dinosaurs. Babies choose confidently what they want to play with and receive lots of cuddles from their trusted adults.

Changes to the drop-off and collection arrangements, following the COVID-19 pandemic, have not affected children. Staff greet children at the entrance and exchange important information with parents in a variety of ways.

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

• The manager and deputy manager have a clear vision for the curriculum. Staff provide a broad curriculum that is based on children's needs and interests. Sometimes, however, the planned next steps for children's learning are too broad. This means staff are not able to plan precisely enough to offer the highest levels of challenge to children.
• Children develop their communication skills well. Staff sing songs regularly and read books to children, to help them learn the meaning and sounds of words. They support children who speak English as an additional language. Staff use children's home languages alongside speaking English, to help children's understanding and extend their English vocabulary.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They know each child's individual needs and specific requirements. Staff's ongoing relationships and collaborative working with other professionals are effective in meeting children's needs. As a result, the support and reasonable adjustments that are made improve children's daily care and education.
• Children are inquisitive and engaged in their play. Staff know the children very well and use this knowledge to inform their interactions with them. They help to keep children motivated and curious about their play. However, occasionally, staff prompt children too quickly and provide answers to questions. They do not challenge children well enough to extend their learning even further.
• The manager and deputy manager know the nursery very well and understand clearly the community it serves. The majority of families come from military backgrounds. Several of these families may be absent for some time due to deployments. Staff recognise that at these times they need to offer more security, comfort and reassurance. They are keen to support children's mental health and well-being. The key-person system is effective and adaptive to suit the needs of each child.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and the care their children receive. They comment that the staff make them feel 'reassured that their children are in safe hands and well looked after'. Staff keep parents updated about their children's learning and encourage them to support their children's development at home.
• The manager and staff review their practice continually to highlight areas where they can make well-targeted improvements. Since the last inspection, they have enhanced the outdoor environment by displaying letters of the alphabet. Leaders have plans to improve the outdoor area further to support children who prefer to learn outside.
• Leaders meet with staff to discuss their role, agree professional development targets and plan future training. Staff receive good levels of training to build on their professionalism and increase their knowledge. Recent training has extended staff's knowledge of how to use sign language to communicate with children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's teaching skills to help them make the most of all opportunities to extend children's learning even further
• enhance the planning for children's next steps in learning to ensure they are more finely tuned to meet children's individual needs.