Tops Day Nursery Christchurch

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily and settle quickly at this warm and welcoming nursery. They share close relationships with staff, who are nurturing and kind in their approach. Consequently, children feel safe and secure. For example, babies enjoy a nurturing environment where they receive lots of cuddles and warm interactions from the staff who care for them. Toddlers and pre-school children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills, and they spend much of their time outside benefiting from fresh air and exercise. Toddlers are supported well by staff to master the skill of climbing the steps to go down a slide, and pre-school children are extremely independent. Children are well behaved. Staff give the children lots of praise and encouragement for their good behaviour and their achievements. As a result, children respond with smiles, are confident and have high self-esteem.

Staff provide a broad curriculum that focuses on building key skills that children need for their next stage of development, including starting school. All children make good progress from their individual starting points because staff get to know the children well and provide targeted support. Staff work closely with parents and other agencies to ensure a successful shared approach.

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

• Staff support babies' language development well by offering them choices, naming items as they speak and encouraging them to use their words. Babies move trains around a track as staff name the different colours of the carriages. They enthusiastically explore their environment using their senses, such as posting different shaped bricks into a shape sorter. Staff skilfully encourage babies' curiosity as they explore what happens when they put resources into a cardboard tube. Babies smile and clap their hands as the resources go through the tube and come out the other end.
• Staff provide good opportunities for children to learn about keeping themselves healthy. They learn about the importance of keeping their teeth clean and are knowledgeable about when they would need to go to the dentist. They have daily opportunities to brush their teeth and understand which foods are good for their teeth and bodies.
• Children have developed a love of books and stories. They are seen sharing books with their friends and eagerly respond to questions when staff tell stories to children in larger groups. They talk about how the character in the story feels or guess what might happen next. However, some children shout out or talk over one another during adult-led group activities. In addition, staff do not organise or plan effectively at transition times, such as when children are getting ready to go outside. Staff do not routinely engage them in purposeful learning at these times and, as a result, some children become restless and disengaged.
• Children follow thorough hygiene routines. They understand the importance of good handwashing routines and enjoy a healthy well-balanced diet prepared by the nursery chef. Children sleep and rest when they need to. Staff provide a warm and cosy environment for children to sleep and check sleeping children regularly to ensure their well-being and safety.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff gather valuable information from parents when children start attending the nursery. This, alongside their own observations and assessment of children's development, helps staff to plan accurate next steps in children's learning. This helps children to get the early and ongoing support they might need.
• Children build towers with bricks and enjoy knocking them down. They play in the sand, filling different sized vessels as staff talk to them about what they are doing. This helps to enhance children's mathematical knowledge and understanding. However, at times, staff do not interact effectively with children to extend their learning or build on their vocabulary.
• The provider places a strong emphasis on ensuring staff's well-being. Staff have regular opportunities to discuss their practice and develop their knowledge. They have completed training to further support children's communication and language. This has provided staff with further ideas to support children's language development in the nursery. The provider is about to introduce home link bags with ideas for activities for parents and children to do together at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the consistency of staff engagement and their interactions with children to fully support and extend each child's learning consistently
• support staff to develop further strategies during adult-led activities and at transition times to keep children engaged and focused on their learning.