Victoria Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. They enter happily and are warmly greeted by friendly staff. They develop warm, nurturing relationships and quickly make good use of the inviting and accessible resources and activities that are planned for them. Children behave well. They are aware of the rules and routines and are sensitively reminded about 'gentle hands' and praised for 'good listening' by staff who help to nurture their self-esteem. This helps children to develop confidence in the nursery. Children talk to staff about the things that are important to them and communicate their thoughts and feelings well.

Staff know what children can do and what they need to learn next. For example, they support babies to develop concentration skills by using puppets to interact with stories. Older children gain confidence and physical skills as they ride tricycles outdoors and use the climbing frame. This helps children to make good levels of progress in their learning.

Children have rich opportunities to learn about the world around them. They grow plants and enjoy walks in the local area. They recently took part in the Jubilee celebrations and received a letter from the Queen. They have exciting, first-hand experiences observing life cycles of frogs, butterflies and chicks. This helps them to make sense of their physical world and develop their knowledge across all areas of learning.

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

• Staff plan an ambitious curriculum that helps children to make good levels of progress. Children learn many skills to support them as they prepare to move on to the next stage of their education. They use spades to dig outdoors, knead dough and use big arm movements as they dance to music. This helps to develop the physical skills needed for early writing. However, staff do not consistently implement exactly what they want children to learn. For instance, they are keen for children to develop independence skills but miss opportunities for them to self-serve food at mealtimes.
• Fascinated children listen to enthusiastic staff tell stories in creative ways. Children join in with words from stories they know well. Staff talk to children about the meaning of words that they hear in books. Furthermore, they introduce new words such as 'vigorous' to children who explore the sounds of musical instruments. This helps children to learn new vocabulary and supports their good communication and language development. Staff share books that children enjoy with parents who attend nursery story times. This helps to develop children's love of reading.
• Opportunities for children to develop good mathematical skills are plentiful.
• Babies are introduced to counting as they explore sand and hunt for shells. Older children recognise and order numbers with staff who teach them how to solve number problems, such as subtraction. This helps children to make good progress and sets them up well for their transition to school.
• Children have some opportunities to foster their understanding of our culturally diverse world. They learn about Africa and taste exotic fruits. They paint pictures based on African artwork to develop their artistic and cultural awareness. However, staff do not consistently find ways to celebrate the individual diversity of all children or appreciate their home languages.
• Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe. They learn about healthy foods as they act out role play in the café and are taught about the importance of handwashing. Visits from a nurse teach children how to look after their teeth and body. They have varied opportunities for physical development and babies learn about managing risk as they navigate the soft-play area, experimenting with how to move in different ways. This supports children to be active and lead a healthy lifestyle.
• Parents are extremely complimentary about the nursery. They praise the 'pleasant, friendly staff who have children's best interests at heart'. Staff keep parents informed about children's progress with ideas on how they can support learning at home.
• The dedicated management team support staff to further raise the quality of teaching. For example, training on teaching early mathematics helps staff to develop their confidence and knowledge of teaching number skills. Newer staff access supportive coaching from more experienced members of the team. This helps to raise standards further for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that opportunities for children to develop their independence skills are consistently applied in line with the curriculum intent
• further develop children's understanding and appreciation of diversity and promote opportunities for all children to celebrate their uniqueness and home languages.