The Willows Private Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and excited to enter. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, children had been dropped off and collected from the friendly staff at the door. However, parents have recently started coming back inside the nursery. Children respond well to this. They show their parents where their peg is for their belongings and confidently wave them off, before finding the activity they want to join.

Children are safe in this nursery. They seek out staff if they are upset or tired. Staff are close by to respond to children's needs. Children have a positive attitude to learning. They enjoy joining in with a 'dough disco' activity where they model dough in time to music. Children manipulate the dough between their fingers. They also make larger movements with their arms. This helps children to develop the small muscles in their hands and the larger muscles in their arms, ready for writing activities.

Staff have high expectations for children's learning. Children learn about similarities and differences. They learn about what makes them unique. Staff also support children to understand how some people's lives are different to their own. Children are invited to join in with different events to raise money for charity. This supports children to understand the world around them.

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

• Leaders have a clear learning focus for children. Staff understand this, and generally implement it well. They plan activities that capture children's interests. For example, a group of children have great fun experimenting with different-coloured paints to see how they can make new colours. Staff are starting to encourage children to think for themselves and test out their ideas. However, at times, group activities are a little long and narrow in focus. Therefore, some children do not demonstrate high levels of participation and lose interest.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) incredibly well. They know children and their individual needs exceptionally well. Children are allocated a key person who works closely with them and their families. Generally, this key person stays with the children throughout their journey through nursery. This provides children with consistent levels of care. Consequently, children with SEND are making very good progress and are well prepared for their next stage in learning.
• Staff support children's communication and language well. Children enjoy listening to stories and looking at books independently. Staff make good use of songs to support children to learn new words. Children enjoy joining in with phonics activities where they can practise making different sounds. Children confidently sound out their own names when they introduce themselves.
• Children generally behave well in this nursery. Leaders have nursery rules in place. Staff communicate these to children throughout the day. While this strategy works for some children, it is not highly effective for all children. Therefore, some children struggle to regulate their own feelings and are yet to understand how their behaviour has an impact on others.
• Children learn some of the different ways to keep themselves healthy. They enjoy nutritious home-cooked meals. Staff support children to learn about how the food they eat can affect their oral health. Children enjoy practising their teeth brushing skills. They learn how to brush their teeth correctly. This promotes oral hygiene. Children get ample opportunity to play outside in the fresh air. They get lots of exercise as they enjoy riding bikes and scooters along the race track. This supports children's physical development well.
• Leaders support staff well. Staff keep all their mandatory training up to date. Leaders carry out regular supervision meetings with staff. These help to support staff with their own mental health and well-being. Therefore, staff are able to offer good levels of care and education to children.
• Parents speak highly of the nursery. They believe that their children are making good progress with their learning as a direct result of the opportunities staff plan for them. Parents feel confident to continue children's learning at home due to the high levels of guidance staff provide.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support all children to engage in high levels of participation and concentration during group activities
• strengthen systems used to support children to regulate their own feelings and start to understand how their behaviour has an impact on others.