The Rainbow Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The ambitious curriculum devised by leaders helps to ensure that children receive a good quality of education. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their starting points. They develop many of the key skills needed for the future and learning at school. Children are expressive and creative learners. They particularly enjoy pretend play which staff facilitate to build on what they already know and can do. For example, children take on the role of a doctor. Staff provide resources such as a stethoscope, and children considerately take care of others. Staff introduce some rich vocabulary, including the words 'pharmacy' and 'medication', as children eagerly listen to hear their heart beating.

Staff provide flexible settling-in sessions which support children to become familiar with the nursery environment. As a result, babies are extremely content and happy when they arrive. Staff take time each day to welcome children. They gather details from parents to equip them with vital information in readiness for the day ahead. This includes meaningful communication about the child's previous evening at home and anything new to be mindful of. Children are emotionally secure. They are becoming resilient as staff provide praise and encourage them to keep on trying. For example, older children take turns to shoot a ball into a hoop. After a few attempts, they eventually succeed. Their beaming smiles show they are proud, and they delight in their achievement.

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

• Children's physical development is supported well by staff. Children are helped to strengthen their small-muscle skills in innovative ways. Children use tweezers to pick up toy spiders from inside a giant 'web'. Younger children explore dough and demonstrate their increasing ability to grip and use tools with confidence. Children also develop their large-muscle skills, for example through yoga sessions. Children balance along outdoor apparatus with agility. Older children are encouraged to build a tall tower. They show coordination and precisely stack the blocks carefully, ensuring that the building does not topple over.
• Leaders ensure that staff access mandatory training and group well-being sessions. Staff also are subscribed to an online learning platform where they can choose from courses that interest them. However, the existing arrangement for staff's professional development is not precisely tailored towards the individual learning needs of staff. This leads to some minor inconsistencies among the staff team, particularly in promoting communication and language. However, leaders have identified this and are in the process of reviewing the training programme.
• Partnership with parents is very positive. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that children's individual needs are known and well met. Parents say that staff are approachable and friendly and keep them updated. Parents have opportunities to be involved in using an online application. A collaborative approach is adopted, which supports children's progress and care.
• Overall, staff help children to be ready for the next stage in their learning. They plan activities and experiences to motivate children and spark their enthusiasm. Children enjoy looking at books with staff as staff use animated language to maintain their attention. Staff ask questions about the illustrations to involve children in the book. However, staff do not always allow sufficient time for children to respond to the questions they are asked. In addition, sometimes, staff do not check that children have understood an instruction. They use incorrect language and sentence structure when speaking with children. This does not support children to develop excellent communication skills.
• Highly effective links are established with external professionals, including the children's centre and school teachers. This helps staff to work consistently with others involved in supporting children's care and learning. Additional funding is used well to ensure that children and families are physically healthy. For example, money was used to provide fresh fruit to families and promote physical health. This also helped to strengthen awareness of the benefits of preparing healthy meals. This is a priority for the nursery. Children with SEND and those in receipt of funding are supported to make the progress they are capable of.
• Staff are good role models, and they adopt consistent rules and boundaries for children's behaviour. Staff refer to 'golden rules' and sensitively remind children about what is expected. As a result, children are starting to self-regulate their behaviours. Staff provide a five-minute reminder and children know when it is tidy-up time and are prepared for a change in the routine. Children are respectful of the environment. For example, they help staff to sweep up sand, using a dustpan and brush. Children behave very well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide staff with more personalised training and incisive feedback to enhance practice to a consistently high level
• help staff to focus more precisely on what leaders intend children to learn, particularly regarding their communication and language development.