Treetops Gloucester

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and management have made significant improvements since the previous inspection to meet the welfare requirements. The increased and improved professional development opportunities for staff have had a positive impact on the nursery's improvements, including managing risk to keep children safe and strengthening children's learning and development. New systems and resources help to create a good environment for all children.

Staff are nurturing. They warmly welcome children when they arrive at this vibrant and friendly nursery. They greet children eagerly and are reassuring and attentive to children's needs. Staff know that children learn best when they feel safe and secure. They spend time getting to know children and develop positive relationships with them. Staff create a caring and fostering environment in which children can grow and develop well.

Staff provide children with an ambitious curriculum that builds on what they already know and can do. It is carefully adapted to meet children's varying ages and stages of development. For example, babies babble with delight as they explore sand. They use their senses to touch, squeeze and sprinkle sand in their hands. Toddlers show a keen interest in dinosaurs. They talk about their different names, colours and sizes. Older children enjoy learning through trial and error. They show great perseverance when creating a wooden train track and village, for example. Purposeful activities such as these, along with effective support from staff, means that children are curious, motivated to learn and make good progress across the curriculum areas. They develop the skills needed for their next stage of learning.

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

• The newly appointed manager, along with the leadership team, have a clear vision of how to implement changes for continuous improvement. This continues to have a positive impact. All staff receive ongoing supervisions and regular feedback on how to improve their teaching practice. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities. Leaders carefully monitor staff's well-being and deployment. They carry out regular risk assessments and monitor hygiene practices to ensure welfare requirements are consistently met. Leaders work closely with staff and parents to gain their views on any changes. This helps them to evaluate the quality of provision and make further improvements.
• Parents speak highly of the significant improvements made by nursery staff and the service they provide. They describe the staff as kind and caring and say that communication is effective. Parents are updated on their child's development and included in their learning. Staff share children's next steps in learning and ideas to continue learning at home. For example, parents share the song, story and word of the week. They say that their children are making good progress.
• Staff are committed to their own professional development. This is influencing their practice and having a positive impact on children's learning. For example, they recently took part in 'baby specific' training and are using this knowledge to support babies more effectively, such as limiting the use of dummies.
• Staff focus on children's personal, social and emotional development from the start. An effective key-person system ensures that children settle quickly and build strong attachments. This helps children to feel safe and secure.
• Generally, staff develop children's communication and language skills well. They engage with children during play, explaining how things work and introducing new vocabulary. They ask children lots of questions aimed at developing their thinking skills and to check their understanding. However, on occasion, staff do not allow enough time for children to think and to respond before asking another question. Also, staff do not consistently correct children when they mispronounce words. This limits children's ability to make the best possible progress in developing their communication and language skills.
• Children develop a love of books and stories. Staff enthusiastically read to children, talk about the pictures and check children's understanding. Toddlers independently bring books to staff to read and look at books with friends.
• Overall, children develop positive attitudes to learning and behave well. When needed, children are given gentle reminders and learn to take turns and share. Staff respond quickly, clearly and sensitively to any disputes. This prevents any potential conflicts from escalating and keeps children safe. Children develop a good awareness of what is expected of them. However, staff do not consistently provide older children with the support they need to learn how to manage and regulate their own emotions or to express themselves in a positive way.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff provide children with the time they need to think and to respond to questions and consistently correct children when they mispronounce words to help children make the best possible progress in developing their communication and language skills
• provide older children with the support they need to learn how to manage and regulate their own emotions and to express themselves in a positive way.