Thomas Calton Creche

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly into the nursery and form meaningful bonds with their key person and the wider staff team. They happily turn to staff for comfort and support, and staff respond warmly. The staff know the children they care for well and communicate about each child's needs with one another successfully. This helps all staff to support children effectively.

Staff promote positive behaviour, and children are aware of what staff expect of them. Staff act as strong role models and encourage children to participate in activities together. Children learn to follow positive hygiene routines and complete these independently. Staff remind them of why it is important that they follow this routine, and this helps children to understand why the rules are in place.

Staff promote children's physical development through the activities offered indoors and outdoors. They encourage children to explore activities and make choices independently. Children use scissors to cut pieces of paper to decorate their Chinese lantern. Children explore sensory activities. They make marks in cold custard, developing their small hand muscles for early writing skills. Outdoors, staff set up activities that enable children to run, climb and ride on wheeled toys.

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

• Overall, staff demonstrate a good understanding of the children in their care. They confidently talk about the children's learning, and plan experiences to build on the skills and knowledge that children already have. Staff talk about children's next steps in their learning and how they support children. However, children's next steps are broad in their focus. This means that, at times, gaps in areas such as language development are not always given priority.
• Staff plan many opportunities for children to develop their language skills. For example, children listen to stories and join in with songs and rhymes. Staff encourage children's communication and language well, overall. Staff reinforce words and phrases for children who speak English as an additional language, to encourage their speech.
• Children show positive attitudes towards learning. They display high levels of concentration in tasks, and are polite and kind towards their friends. However, sometimes, staff's organisation of routines, particularly around lunchtime and group time, are confusing for children as they are unsure of what is expected of them. Therefore, staff at these times do not fully support learning opportunities.
• Mathematics is incorporated well into children's activities. Staff encourage counting during their play. Mathematical language is introduced, which children then use independently in their play. For example, children draw shapes with chalk in the garden and talk about how high they are when using the see-saw.
• Staff teach children about similarities and differences between themselves and others effectively. Children are proud of who they are and where they come from. They see words in their home language displayed around the setting. This gives children a sense of belonging and uniqueness. They enjoy learning about different cultures, festivals and celebrations.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Parents are complimentary about staff and the care their children receive. They comment that the staff are kind and caring, and without them, they would not be able to continue their own studies. Furthermore, staff provide regular information to keep parents informed about their child's care and learning. Staff provide ideas for parents to build on their children's learning at home.
• Staff report that they receive high levels of support in their role. They feel that leaders are always approachable. Leaders regularly observe staff's teaching and practice. They provide constructive feedback. Staff have many training opportunities to help them continually develop their teaching skills and improve the provision for children. Leaders have a high regard for all members of staff and prioritise their well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop their knowledge and ability to refine targets that build on the areas that children need to develop the most
• improve the organisation of some routines and activities to help support children's understanding and engagement more consistently.