Whitstabubbles Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive confident and happy. They are warmly welcomed by the friendly and attentive staff, who provide a safe and nurturing environment. Children enjoy their play and keep themselves busy and engaged. For instance, role play is an interest across all age ranges. Children enjoy exploring the resources and acting out home customs, such as making cups of tea and setting the table for dinner. Furthermore, they show confidence to choose where they would like to play, transitioning with confidence between the nursery and the garden.

There is an overarching curriculum, which sequentially builds as children transition through the nursery. There is an emphasis on children developing a strong foundation to their personal, social, and emotional development as well as their communication skills. Furthermore, children learn about how to tend to their own care needs, such as using the toilet and brushing their teeth after their lunch. All children including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are making a good level of progress in their learning and development.

Children behave well. They are supported by the staff who act as positive role models. When there are minor disputes between children, staff act sensitively to teach them about how others may be feeling and encourage them to reflect on their actions. Furthermore, staff know the individual needs of the children well, this enables them to effectively use distraction techniques to refocus children and keep them engaged.

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

• The provider has effective arrangements in place to support staff in understanding their roles and responsibilities. This includes having regular meetings with staff and observing their practice. The provider identifies what staff do well and provides them with ideas to strengthen their teaching skills. Furthermore, the nursery is proactive in linking with other local settings, to share good practice and training. This enables staff to build confidence in their teaching, which enhances the quality of experiences that children receive.
• Staff provide a focus on helping children to lead healthy lifestyles. Children learn about good oral hygiene and have established a routine of brushing their teeth after lunch. Furthermore, staff provide daily opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. For instance, they build core muscle strength while using the rope swings, and strengthen their finger muscles as they learn to hold pencils and paintbrushes to mark make. This helps children to develop the skills that promote future writing.
• Staff generally support children's language skills well and older children are confident communicators. Staff sing and read with children throughout the day.
• They show they have developed a love of books as they choose favourites to read with staff. Furthermore, children like to explore books on their own, making their own stories using pictures to support. However, on occasion, staff lack confidence in their interactions with children and do not always fully support their developing language skills.
• The nursery has established effective and supportive partnerships with parents. The staff take the time to get to know the children's extended family and value the importance of this information in meeting children's individual needs. Lots of information is shared between the setting and home. For example, children's next steps in learning and their current interests. Furthermore, the provider ensures that communication with parents regarding children with SEND is effective in getting the correct support for children at the earliest opportunity. These positive and mutual relationships provide continuity of care for children.
• The staff have a good understanding of how to plan a well-sequenced curriculum. They follow children's interests and information from their assessments to help inform their planning. Staff get to know children well and understand their unique needs. However, they do not always consider what individual children need to learn next during their play and interactions with them. This does not help children to consistently build on their existing skills.
• The provider ensures that additional funding the setting receives is used effectively to meet individual needs and improve outcomes for children. Staff use their comprehensive knowledge of the children to further complement the curriculum. For example, recent funding has been used to provide football sessions by sports coaches. Furthermore, the staff invite people from the community to the setting, such as the local fire brigade. They also take children on local walks to ignite their understanding and curiosity of the world around them.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's understanding of the importance of quality interactions to further support children's communication skills
• develop teaching further to focus more precisely on what children need to learn next.