Warwick Road Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children into the nursery warmly and children settle quickly. Staff provide a nurturing approach to the care they provide. Children seek out their key person for a cuddle when they are feeling unsure. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children explore the activities on offer with determination. They become intrigued with what they find in the sensory tray. Children enthusiastically join in with the activity as they discover familiar dinosaurs and stomp these into the foam to make different-sized marks. Staff bring meaning to the marks the children make as they talk about the difference between the big and small prints. This helps children develop their mathematical understanding through comparing the various sizes.

Staff have high expectations for all children's behaviour, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They come down to children's eye level and patiently talk to them about their behaviours and wait for them to show acknowledgement. This supports children's understanding of what is being asked of them. Children show high levels of focus in activities. They share their resources with their friends as they concentrate on creating faces in play dough, using buttons and pipe cleaners. Children enjoy their time in the garden. Staff blow bubbles into the air and children giggle in delight as they chase and pop them.

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

• The manager, who is also the nominated individual, is passionate about the high-quality care she provides for all children. The manager and staff act swiftly to respond to any incidents or accidents in the setting to ensure environments and equipment remain safe for children. The manager works closely with staff and parents to ensure all children receive the best possible care to raise outcomes.
• Staff support children with SEND well. Staff work with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to implement detailed care and learning plans. The SENCo works with other professionals to ensure all children have the right support in place for their learning and development. Children make progress from their starting points.
• All children enjoy a range of stories and singing sessions to support their development of communication and language. However, there are occasions when staff do not pronounce words correctly when they talk to the children. For example, when children find different animals, staff call a duck a 'duckie'. This does not fully enable children to build on their vocabulary and language development successfully.
• Parent partnerships are good. Parents provide positive feedback about the care their children receive. They comment that they value the information shared with them regarding their child's learning and the updates about what is happening in the nursery. Staff share activities with parents to help them continue their children's learning at home.
• Staff plan a range of activities for children to develop their understanding across all seven areas of learning. However, staff do not consistently build on children's knowledge and understanding of the world around them as well as they could. For example, staff talk to children about their favourite coloured flowers that may grow in the garden. Children respond with their favourite colour. When they tell staff they like green flowers, staff do not always support their understanding by explaining that the green they see is the leaves of the plant and not the flower.
• Children gain good personal, social and emotional skills. Older children listen to stories about their emotions and how to manage them. Staff reward children for their achievements and recognise the positive impact this has on children's self-esteem. For example, staff provide an abundance of praise when children build pyramids with cups and problem-solve how to make theirs the tallest. Children smile proudly at their achievements. This supports children in developing their resilience and confidence in their capabilities.
• Staff prepare children well for the next stage in their development. They focus on the skills children need to support them as they transition on to school. Children follow secure routines as staff remind them of the importance of washing their hands before eating. They develop their independence as they prepare and cut their chosen fruit at snack time, supporting their understanding of self-care routines.
• Staff receive regular supervision meetings to discuss their key children and any personal or work concerns. They attend a range of training to support their professional development . Staff say that they feel valued and part of the team.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to model the correct use of English to enable children to build on their communication and language skills successfully
• strengthen teaching so that all staff consistently build on children's existing knowledge, in particular their understanding of the world.