Unicorn Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled. They enjoy attending this welcoming, inclusive, and friendly nursery. When children arrive at the start of the session they happily separate from their parents and carers, and quickly settle to their chosen play. Staff are kind and caring. This helps children to form a strong sense of belonging and develop close relationships with staff and their peers. Staff offer children frequent praise and encouragement. This helps children to behave well. They learn to share and take turns with toys and resources.

Staff encourage children to be independent. Babies are encouraged to learn to feed themselves at snack and mealtimes. Older children happily enjoy taking on responsibilities, such as setting the table for lunchtime. Children of all ages make independent choices about where and what they would like to play with. Babies enjoy practising their physical skills as they climb up and down the indoor climbing frame. Older children learn to negotiate space outdoors as they ride on wheeled toys. All children, including those who speak English as an additional language and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in their learning. They are developing the skills that they need to prepare them for their eventual move to school.

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

• The quality of teaching is good. Staff have a good understanding of how young children learn and develop. They use their good knowledge of children to structure a curriculum that they know children will enjoy and readily join in with. However, staff do not always focus enough on children's identified next steps for learning in order to help them to make even better progress in their learning.
• Support for children with SEND is a particular strength of the nursery. Staff sensitively meet the individual needs of the children, with respect and kindness. They recognise when children need focused one-to-one time and when they are able to cope independently in group situations. This helps children to feel safe and secure. The special educational needs coordinator and manager work well with other professionals and parents. This means that children benefit from early intervention and any gaps in their learning are closing.
• Children's communication and language skills are developing well. Staff frequently read stories to children, encourage them to join in with songs and rhymes, and engage in meaningful discussions. Children are confident communicators and readily engage with visitors to the nursery. They are confident to ask questions when they do not understand something. Staff respond well, giving age-appropriate answers that help children to learn and understand new things.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. Parents are happy with the progress that their children have made since starting at the nursery. Staff share regular information about how children are progressing and what they have been experiencing at nursery. This is done through sharing assessments, daily verbal feedback, and by sharing information via the online system. However, staff do not always seek enough information about what children already know and can do when they first start, in order to help them to fully plan for children's learning needs from the very beginning.
• Staff are well supported in their roles. They benefit from regular and effective training and supervision sessions that help them to build on their already good knowledge and skills. Staff speak highly of the support that they receive from management.
• Children's good health is promoted well. Staff remind children of the importance of washing their hands before meals and snacks. Children are provided with healthy, nutritious, and balanced meals that are prepared on site. These are adapted to meet the individual dietary needs of children.
• Children behave well. Staff act as good role models and offer children gentle and age-appropriate reminders, such as using 'walking feet' when indoors. Children readily say 'please' and 'thank you' when they are served fruit at snack time. Staff help children to understand how their behaviour may affect other people's feelings.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the planning of some activities to more frequently focus on children's identified next steps for learning
• seek more-detailed information from parents when children first start at the nursery about what children already know and can do, to plan more precisely for children's learning from the very beginning.