The Village Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and content at this welcoming nursery. They enjoy playing with their friends and choosing from a range of interesting activities, both inside and outside. Children have a lot of fun playing with bubbles in the water tray. They concentrate hard as they carefully pour water from a jug through a funnel. Children kindly share the jugs with their friends. They chatter excitedly as they hunt for more toy fish under the bubbles. Children enjoy their learning and are developing their levels of concentration.

Babies confidently explore their surroundings in the relaxed and peaceful baby room. They enjoy playing with a stacking rainbow toy, reaching and grasping the different pieces. This supports the development of their physical skills.

Toddlers enjoy taking part in the carefully planned activities on offer outside. They look at insects, smell pots of herbs and play with toy dinosaurs, being encouraged by staff to say what they can smell and see. This supports the development of children's communication and language and encourages them to be imaginative.

Children enjoy trips and visits in the local area. For example, they go to a fruit and vegetable stall to buy the nursery snack. They also visit a nearby café to enhance their understanding of a story. This helps the children to develop their understanding of the world around them.

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

• Children are supported and encouraged to become very independent. At mealtimes, they help themselves to food and drinks and scrape their own plates afterwards. Children notice when their own nose needs wiping, leave their activity and help themselves to a tissue. They carefully put the tissue in the bin and clean their hands afterwards. Children are learning how to keep themselves healthy, and these routines also help to build their confidence.
• Children and staff have positive and warm relationships. Staff praise the children frequently and speak with pride about their achievements. Parents report that staff 'really know the children well' and that their children are settled and happy when coming to the nursery, even after a break such as Christmas. This shows that the children feel safe and secure.
• Children enjoy working with staff during adult-led activities. They look carefully at a picture of a tiger in a book and then work together to mix red and yellow paint for their own painting, excitedly saying 'look, it's changing!' as the colours merge. Children's language is sometimes well developed, for example as they discuss how the tiger in the story might feel. However, some of the questions posed by staff do not encourage further discussion, which limits the impact of the activity.
• Toddlers enjoy painting on the window, giggling as they put a blob of paint on the staff member's nose. Experienced staff laugh and joke with the children, skilfully encouraging them to talk about what they are doing and expanding their use of language.
• Children play happily in the sandpit. They enjoy scooping sand into their bucket and then pouring it out. Staff talk to the children during the activity. However, less-experienced staff sometimes lack the skills and knowledge to make the most of the conversation, and they do not encourage further discussion or wait for the children to reply to the questions. This means that children's language skills are not always developed fully.
• Leaders and managers are passionate about what they do. They are ambitious for all children in the nursery and are proactive in working with other agencies. For example, they seek advice and additional support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This supports all children to make good progress.
• Leaders and managers have correctly identified some priorities for improvement through their self-evaluation. They have started to monitor the quality of teaching and learning in the nursery. Staff report that they feel well supported and benefit from regular supervision meetings and access to ongoing professional development.
• Parents speak highly about nursery leaders and staff. They report that they are well informed about their child's care and learning, and they understand what to do to support their child's learning at home. Parents of children who are new to the nursery appreciate the individual approach to the settling-in process and the care taken to make children feel relaxed and included.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support newer staff to consistently implement the curriculum to help all children make the best possible progress
• strengthen the monitoring of staff practice to further raise the quality of teaching
• focus on the development of staff's understanding of communication and language to raise the quality of the curriculum delivery to a consistently high level.