The Hampton Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at the nursery. They settle quickly in their designated rooms and enjoy making choices about what breakfast they would like. Children develop good levels of independence from the earliest age. They feed themselves and make choices about their play. Older children serve their food and clear away after themselves at mealtimes.

Children's emotional development is well supported. Children show they have warm attachments with the staff who care for them. Babies smile and giggle during interactions. Older children talk about feelings and the different 'colour monsters' that reflect their mood. Expectations for children's behaviour are clearly communicated by staff. For example, children are expected to wait their turn patiently and eat safely while sat at the table with their friends.

Children show a strong exploratory impulse. When playing in water, toddlers work out what is needed to make the water wheel spin around. Older children solve problems about what they need to add to the dough they have made, to make it less sticky. Children share a real enjoyment of books, which promotes their communication and language development as they learn new language and listen to stories. For example, very young children sit and look at books independently and then take their favourites to staff for them to be read aloud.

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

• Broadly speaking, most of the interactions between staff and children are of good quality. Staff support children to problem solve and make predictions. For example, they ask children what they think will happen to their homemade see-saw if they take their hand away from the middle of it. Babies enjoy watching staff roll a ball onto the roof of the pergola to see where it will drop. However, staff do not always recognise children's high level of engagement in their own learning and interrupt them, for example to change their nappy.
• The rooms and outdoor areas are inviting, spacious and light. Outdoors, children draw with giant chalks, roll down the large mound and show good physical coordination as they travel on balance bikes. They develop play ideas together and assign imaginative roles to one another. Other children use planks of wood and tyres to design and create obstacle courses.
• There are effective procedures in place for the employment of temporary staff while a significant recruitment campaign is underway. Induction is thorough and they are given clear, daily information about the key children they need to focus on and their next steps. However, sometimes, temporary staff take on a more supervisory role rather than one of promoting children's learning at every opportunity.
• Staff observe children to identify where they are in their learning, their next steps and current interests. They use all of this information to plan meaningful and interesting activities. Staff are deployed effectively and supervise children well to ensure their safety.
• Children are provided with a wide range of healthy and nutritionally balanced meals and snacks. The chef is dedicated to her role and creates 'chef's specials', such as a lentil chilli, which children love to try.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. Staff work closely with other professionals to offer children good levels of support in order that they reach their potential.
• Feedback from parents is positive. They comment about the good feedback that staff give them about their child's day and progress. The complaints policy is appropriately followed and a clear record of these is maintained.
• The manager and staff are very reflective of their practice and are keen to implement new ideas. For example, staff have recently been inspired to create a children's committee to give older children opportunity to share their views.
• The provider has a clear commitment to staff's continuous professional development. Staff supervisions are purposeful. Staff's health and well-being are also given good consideration.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider how the organisation of routine events can take place without interrupting children's high levels of engagement and concentration during their chosen activities
• support all staff working with children to consistently engage in high-quality interactions with the children they care for, to promote their learning at every opportunity.