Wishing Well Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children benefit from the close attention of staff who, overall, deliver a broad and exciting range of learning opportunities that respond to children's needs and interests. Staff who work with toddlers are particularly skilled in extending children's levels of engagement. They select children to be daily helpers to give them a sense of responsibility. Staff gently encourage children to follow their guidance as they set the table. Children are keen to participate and this activity helps children to develop their conversational skills. Staff speak confidently about the role this activity plays in children's communication and language development, knowing that this is a focus of the curriculum in this room.

Staff understand how to support children's developing language skills. They use consistent strategies across all age groups. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress and become confident communicators. Staff expose children to a wide range of language through speaking and singing, that children then use to express themselves.

Improvements have been made to the interactions with children in the baby room. Staff share stories and rhymes using puppets. Babies show their interest in these experiences as staff support their early language. For instance, staff repeat single words back to babies to encourage them to practise making sounds.

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

• Significant improvements have been made since the last inspection. Leaders and managers are very reflective and have targeted weaker areas of practice to drive improvements. This has led to practice that benefits children across the nursery. A clear drive to develop the quality of the curriculum for communication and language supports all children's speaking and listening skills.
• Leaders and managers have clear oversight of the nursery. They monitor staff practice to identify any areas where staff may benefit from greater support. Staff have access to a wide range of relevant training opportunities, including help to develop confidence when interacting with children. Staff comment that they appreciate the care they receive from managers and feel valued at work.
• Managers demonstrate very strong knowledge of the local community, children and families who attend the setting. They speak confidently about issues that may affect families who use their service and target support to those children who may need more help. Strong relationships with other professionals involved in children's lives help staff to tailor their care and support to children's changing needs.
• Staff know the children who attend well and form strong bonds with them. Staff have a good understanding of all children's needs, not just their key children, to adapt their support as needed. Children's behaviour is managed well. Staff remind children of their expectations calmly to help children learn what is expected of them and feel secure. For example, they remind children of 'walking feet' when they run indoors.
• Parents are very grateful for the support they receive from the nursery. They praise the communication from managers and staff and appreciate how well staff know their children. They feel that staff understand their individual circumstances and show great care for their children.
• While the quality of support in the baby room has largely improved since the last inspection, some times of day, such as the run up to lunch, are not as well managed. Some children struggle at these times because they are expected to move from activities to eating too quickly.
• In the pre-school room, focused activities are used well to support the needs of children who find it difficult to work in large groups. Staff encourage children to choose an activity and invite a few others to join in. They gradually get them used to working with more children, to listen to others and take turns. Staff sensitively remind children of the expectations of behaviour without interrupting their learning. For example, they remind children not to swing wooden ramps around, but redirect them to set up a road for cars. Children then spend much time racing cars down the ramp. They experiment how to make the cars go faster, for example by tilting the ramp upwards.
• Overall, staff interactions with children are positive. However, occasionally, some staff in the pre-school room do not fully respect children's choices. For instance, they do not recognise when children no longer want to engage with an activity. Instead, they return children to the activity which they have moved on from and have no further interest in. This means that some children are less engaged than others.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff in the pre-school room to further understand how to promote children's learning through consistently positive interactions
• help staff to support children to transition between activities or parts of the routine in the baby room.