Toad Hall Nursery Glenvale Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children attending this welcoming nursery are happy and confident. They choose which activities they want to do and thoroughly enjoy it when the staff talk to them and play alongside them. There are clear, positive relationships between staff and children. Staff encourage children to be creative and follow their own ideas. For example, when children make models with play dough, embellish them with pipe cleaners and googly eyes, staff comment on the children's efforts, including when they use new words, such as antenna. Staff talk to children about the colours when they refer to a rainbow. This supportive involvement from staff promotes children's confidence and self-esteem.

Children behave well and the staff help them to understand the daily routines. Children are interested in the activities and show sustained concentration as they play. Toddlers enjoy stories together. Staff promote their interest and enthusiasm by giving children time to talk about the pictures and this results in children becoming deeply engaged. Staff are positive role models for children and help them understand the expectations for behaviour. Children rapidly respond to the staff's consistent and clear approach when they remind children to share and play together. Staff promote children's well-being. Babies quickly settle to sleep as staff cuddle them and gently sing to them.

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

• Although several of the staff and management team are new, there is a clear team spirit and approach in this nursery. Staff work well together and feel valued and supported by the management team. Staff are encouraged to reflect on their work and complete training courses to keep their knowledge up to date. Management oversight is effective and well-targeted priorities for continued improvement are identified.
• Staff support children's developing communication and language skills. They play alongside children and use words to describe the action they are doing. When staff let sand fall between their fingers, they say, 'sprinkle, sprinkle'. Babies watch them and copy what the staff do. Staff support toddlers' vocabulary as they name pretend food and ask children open ended questions, such as what they like to eat and what they have for dinner at home.
• The nursery is well organised and equipped with a wide range of resources that contributes to children being motivated to explore and be curious. Children make choices about what they do from the mostly well-planned activities that promote their learning. However, sometimes staff provide activities that are not meaningful for the children's individual stages of learning.
• Overall, staff are effective in their teaching. Staff know their key children well and children choose to come to activities where the staff are. However, occasionally staff do not fully promote children's learning. They use too much repetition when they talk to children, which results in some children becoming disengaged. Staff ask toddlers to stop what they are doing, but do not always explain the reason why the behaviour is unacceptable.
• Staff know the children well and they provide positive support to help children to learn how to recognise and manage their feelings. Staff speak clearly to children to help diffuse disagreements and encourage children to share and take turns. The clear explanations from staff enable children to continue in their chosen activity alongside their friends.
• With support from staff children develop independence and staff build on children's confidence as they move through the group rooms. Toddlers begin to serve themselves at lunchtime and pre-school children successfully use large spoons to independently serve their food. Staff notice when children work well together, such as when a child uses construction toys to build a car and welcomes another child to join them in rolling it back and forth. Staff praise them which contributes to the positive relationships throughout the nursery.
• Parents are warmly welcomed into the nursery every day and staff give them detailed information about how their child has been and about the activities they have taken part in. Parents like the support the staff give them in relation to helping their children continue their learning at home. The effective partnership between parents and staff contributes to children receiving a consistent approach.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend the development of staff's knowledge about how children learn and monitor their practice to ensure their interactions and teaching skills build over time
• help staff develop their skills in assessment to ensure the planning of activities is meaningful and pitched accurately to reflect children's individual stages of development.