The Meadows Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at nursery and settle quickly in this calm atmosphere. They find their friends and make independent choices about the resources they play with. Children build strong and warm relationships with staff. They go to them for cuddles and reassurance, and receive these in abundance. This helps them to feel safe and secure in their care.

Children explore mark-making opportunities in a range of ways. Young children make marks and in sand, using their fingers and tools to make patterns. They talk with staff about the marks they have made. Older children practise their increasing skills and pencil control. They select from various stencils and focus, as they trace along the edges with their pencils. They smile as they reveal the shapes when lifting off the stencils. Babies strengthen their fingers and hands in readiness for their next stages in learning. For example, they play with resources to pull, push, turn and make other movements. They grin as their actions turn on lights and make sounds.

Children are keen learners and make choices about what they do. They have opportunities to practise their new-found skills, such as cutting with scissors. They make effort to hold scissors correctly so that they can make snips in paper. Children gain the skills they need to prepare them for their next stages in learning and the eventual move on to school.

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

• Managers have designed a curriculum that provides children with the sequence of learning they need to develop their skills and knowledge, and make continual progress in their learning. Staff know the children well. They use the information they gain from their observations of children to plan for each child's learning. As a result, children generally gain the support they need to make progress.
• Communication and language is promoted well. Staff model clear speech and introduce new words to help increase children's vocabulary. Staff use additional programmes with all children, including those in need of additional support to develop their speaking skills. These programmes help staff to focus the support they provide for children to help them to catch up. As a result, children are becoming effective communicators. Babies are keen to talk to visitors about their toys. For example, they tell them, 'It's a tyrannosaurus rex' and 'a horse.'
• Children behave well. They respond well to the positive methods used by staff. Children learn to be kind to each other, to wait and to take turns. For example, when older children build a tower using construction toys, they take turns to add their pieces. Other children are proud when they complete jigsaws. Children use words of praise for each other. They happily count the number of pieces they have. Children show positive attitudes during play.
• Children show increasing independence in lots of ways, such as putting on their own coats, managing their own personal care needs, and confidently selecting their own resources to use. However, there is scope to provide further opportunities for children to develop their skills and increase their independence, particularly at lunchtime.
• Children develop increasing physical skills. They have fun while playing outdoors. For example, they increase their coordination as they use the frames to climb up and down. They master the use of steps up, and sliding down. Other children particularly enjoy racing the range of wheeled toys up and down in the dedicated space. This contributes towards their physical health.
• Managers ensure that staff access regular training to keep their knowledge and skills up to date. Staff speak positively about the support they receive from their managers to fulfil their roles. However, the arrangements for support and guidance are not yet fully effective to help staff to enhance their teaching skills to extend the learning, so that children make the best possible progress.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery and staff. They say their children are happy attending and comment on the information they receive from the staff. Parents say they are kept informed about their children's care and learning progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide further opportunities for children to develop their skills and increase independence, particularly at lunchtime
• strengthen the support and guidance provided to staff to further develop their teaching practice, so that they extend the learning for children to gain a deeper understanding and make the best possible progress.