Washington Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The leadership and staff teams have worked tremendously hard to make the necessary changes and improvements to the nursery provision. They have demonstrated commitment and are passionate about providing good standards of care and learning for all children. For instance, they have prioritised children's safety and ensured all staff have received training on child protection referrals. The premises are safe and suitable for children to use.

Staff know what they want children to learn and plan exciting activities for them, indoors and outdoors. Children show enthusiasm in their learning and engage well in experiences. They develop good social skills and are well prepared for the next stages in their learning. For instance, older children show an understanding of behavioural boundaries and expectations. Staff praise them for being kind and gently remind them to use good manners.

Children form close relationships with all staff, and although they have a key person, they demonstrate they feel safe with everyone in the team. For instance, babies stay close to staff as they explore outdoors. They reach out for reassurance and benefit from the warm responses they receive from staff. Staff have a clear understanding of how to meet children's individual care and learning needs. They know how to work in partnership with others to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This has a positive impact on children's progress.

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

• The leadership team has worked closely in partnership with various professionals from the local authority and has created an in-depth, detailed action plan to help focus on driving improvements forward with staff. The impact of these improvements has already had a positive impact for children and families who attend. Staff continue to work towards a range of professional development and training to continually maintain and refresh their skills.
• The provider has ensured that the arrangements to support children with SEND are effective. Staff have developed partnerships with other professionals who work with children and have a clear overview of their targets and learning plans. Key staff are supported to help children to make progress through their play. They know how to focus their teaching on the areas of learning that children need the most support with. However, on occasion, they do not fully extend and challenge children who are making better than typical progress in some parts of their learning.
• Staff provide children with an exciting, sequenced and balanced curriculum. Overall, this is based on their interests and individual next steps. Staff focus on supporting children to develop strong foundations for future learning. For example, babies begin their physical development journey as they begin to walk and use push-along toys. Toddlers are challenged to use the balance bikes and learn how to pedal larger tractors. Staff praise children in the pre-school garden as they steer and pedal at speed without any support.
• A strong area of the curriculum is in children's personal, social and emotional development. Staff consistently talk to children about how they use 'kind hands' and 'kind feet'. They have support plans in place for children who struggle with emotions, and they find special and individual ways to celebrate their behavioural achievements. Staff are very good role models for children.
• Children develop good levels of independence and self-care skills. Older children learn about the importance of oral hygiene and brush their teeth each day. Children sit together at lunch to enjoy the healthy, freshly cooked meals. They thoroughly enjoy taking their plates to see the nursery cook and self-serve their lunch. She knows their preferences and dietary needs exceptionally well and has an excellent relationship with them.
• Staff promote children's communication and language development. They model new words to them and help them to extend their vocabulary. Children develop a love of stories from an early age and take part in group time singing and nursery rhymes. Leaders are considering how to further support staff's teaching. For instance, they aim to ensure that staff understand the importance of using open questions and provide time for children to think about their answers and share their knowledge.
• Partnerships with parents are very strong. Staff talk to them regularly about their children's learning and how they can extend this at home. They share regular updates about things they have planned for children and discuss their progress assessments. Parents and families leave very positive feedback for the nursery. They say staff are loving and attentive and have supported their children to be well prepared to start school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus teaching for children who are making very good progress, to ensure their learning is extended and they maintain high levels of engagement
• support staff to develop their skills to better promote children's communication and language development even further.