Totstop Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the door with big smiles on their faces as they separate from their parents and enter the setting with staff. Children show a sense of belonging as they walk down the entrance hall, where there are pictures of the children's family trees at children's eye level. Staff build strong and positive relationships with children, meaning that children feel safe and secure in their care. They demonstrate this by their high levels of well-being and confidence. Children happily talk to visitors and tell them about their games.

Staff support children to show positive behaviour. For instance, staff discuss with children ways they can involve others in their games and share their toys. Staff are good role model for children. They are kind towards the children and encourage them to be kind to one another. Staff recognise and praise children when they see positive behaviour. This builds children's self-esteem and helps them to learn about the expectations for behaviour at nursery.

Staff create a wide range of activities and learning opportunities for children that follow their interests and help them build on what they know already. Staff encourage young children to explore the sand tray with their hands by sprinkling sand through their fingers. Older children use different mark-making tools, such as forks, brushes and toothbrushes to paint sunflowers. These activities help children develop the hand muscles they need for writing.

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

• Staff know their key children well and plan their next steps in their learning based on what they need to learn next. Children are given different play opportunities to extend their knowledge and skills. Children look at plants they have grown in the garden. They learn about the names of the parts of a plant, such as 'stem' and 'root'. This motivates children to be involved in their learning. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well. Staff work in partnership with parents and other professionals involved with children to create appropriate and achievable targets. As a result, all children make good progress.
• Staff promote communication and language skills well. They model new words, such as 'splash' as younger children excitedly splash the water from a tray into the air. Children attempt to copy this word as they repeatedly hit the water. This extends children's vocabulary.
• With staff support, children are learning how to be independent and develop key skills they need for the future. Older children have individual coat pegs with their name and photo on them. When they arrive, they find their peg and hang up their bags. Children are encouraged to take their wet paintings to the drying rack and collect them once they are dry. Younger children show independence in their play as they confidently choose activities to play with.
• Staff plan activities to celebrate festivals that are important to the children, such as the Chinese New Year. Staff support children who speak English as an additional language to learn key words in English. However, they have not considered how to include children's home language in their play. Staff do not routinely learn key words in the children's home language to help children to value their uniqueness and feel included.
• Staff help children to learn about healthy lifestyle choices. Children are offered a range of healthy food for lunch and snacks. Children have daily exercise. For example, they dance outside in a group to music before lunch and enjoy running and climbing on the slide. Leaders talk about it being important to keep children active. Staff explain to children how having sun cream on their body is important to keep their skin safe.
• Leaders are reflective and passionate about providing good-quality care and education. Staff speak highly about how they feel supported. They receive regular supervision sessions, and leaders set targets to enhance staff knowledge and improve practice. Feedback is gathered from parents twice a year, and staff meetings are held to discuss the setting. This helps leaders identify areas for improvement in the setting.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Children are set monthly challenges to complete at home, such as cooking a healthy meal. Parents send in photos of their children completing these challenges, and these are shared with their peers. This supports children to extend their learning at home. Parents comment that they are happy, feel supported and involved. Parents are kept informed about their children's learning and development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide opportunities for children to use and develop their home language in the setting through learning and play.