Toggles Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff keenly welcome children when they first arrive at this small, friendly nursery. Children happily share their views with staff as they enthusiastically say 'goodbye' to their parents. They settle quickly to activities they enjoy. Staff are good role models and support children's positive behaviour. Children behave well and have lots of fun as they play and learn together. They demonstrate that they feel safe and emotionally secure.

Staff promote children's independence skills well. For example, children make good attempts to put on their shoes before they go outside. They successfully use cutlery to spread butter on toast for breakfast. Staff use breakfast time to help to promote children's social skills and good manners. Staff and all children sit together and enjoy a healthy breakfast. This helps to boost children's energy at the beginning of the day and supports them to make healthy choices and develop good routines.

Staff support children's well-being and uniqueness effectively. For example, new children settle quickly as they build positive relationships with their key person. All children have opportunities to reflect on their similarities and differences. For example, children skilfully draw self-portraits during planned activities. They develop a positive sense of self and belonging in the nursery.

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

• Since registration, the provider has reflected on practice and the organisation of the nursery environment very effectively. They have a clear and ambitious vision for providing good-quality, inclusive care and early education for all children.
• Leaders place high importance on staff's well-being and engage positively with them. They seek and value staff's views during staff and supervision meetings and are aware of the main pressures on them. Staff say that they receive good levels of support for their well-being.
• Leaders continue to establish a key-person approach to help to promote children's emotional well-being. Children form secure attachments with their key person. However, leaders have not yet considered ways to continue to build the already effective key-person approach. For example, staff do not always routinely change their key children's nappies to help to promote the key-person approach to the highest level.
• The manager confidently explains the skills they intend children to learn. However, occasionally, staff do not consistently implement these learning intentions. For example, staff do not always recognise that some children become bored. They do not quickly intervene to adapt the opportunities available to challenge and extend children's learning so that they are consistently engaged in their learning.
• Younger children are very motivated. They fully engage in imaginary play and act out their home experiences. For example, they enthusiastically explore play food, pots and pans as they pretend to cook dinner. Other children pretend to sell play ice creams as staff positively join them in their play.
• Parents speak very highly of the care their children receive and how staff support new children to settle in. They appreciate the support they receive to promote children's positive behaviour at home, to help to promote a consistent approach. Leaders and staff engage with parents effectively.
• The special educational needs coordinator successfully engages with parents, staff and other professionals. This helps to promote a targeted approach and early intervention for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. All children make good progress from when they first start. They are prepared for the next stages in their learning and their eventual move on to school.
• Children benefit from lots of fresh air and exercise to help to promote their good health, exploration and physical development. For example, children test out their physical abilities as they balance and climb on a wooden climbing frame, and skilfully ride tricycles. Young children enthusiastically pat down mud with a wooden spoon to make 'mud cakes'. They show pride in their achievements as they build sandcastles. Children have a positive attitude to their learning.
• Overall, staff plan experiences to help children focus on their learning and to meet their individual needs. Staff successfully implement opportunities to develop and encourage children's early mark-making development. For example, children enjoy making marks in powder, using their fingers and tools such as small and large brushes. This helps to support their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination in readiness for early literacy development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the already good key-person approach to help to strengthen positive relationships with children, particularly during care routines
• strengthen the curriculum to ensure that it is challenging and captures and maintains children's interests and consistently meets their individual needs.