Wright Start Day Nurseries

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and young babies are warmly welcomed into this 'home-from-home' setting by the enthusiastic and friendly staff team. On arrival children feel safe and show a sense of belonging, as they confidently hang up their coats and belongings on their named peg. Children swiftly become engrossed in playing and exploring the stimulating and age-appropriate activities. Babies and young children develop strong and trusting attachments with the nurturing and attentive staff.

Children talk about how they look forward to weekly French lessons, sport and music sessions. Older children count to twenty in French and then English to visitors, in a proud and accomplished manner. They have plenty of opportunities to develop skills that support a seamless transition to school, such as mark making and building positive peer relationships. Staff continuously extend children's learning with real-life experiences. For example, when learning about oral health, the children enjoy a visit from the dentist. Children's physical and emotional well-being is prioritised. Children and babies benefit from separate garden areas. Older children relish the challenge of climbing a tall slide, and feeling the breeze on their face as they slide down. Children's behaviour and manners are consistently positive, and staff are excellent role models for promoting and praising this.

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

• Overall, teaching is of a high standard throughout the setting. Staff know individual children well. They use effective planning and consider children's unique interests to further support individual learning and development. Robust and effective assessments identify children who may need extra support. Additionally, staff provide teaching and activities that appropriately challenge and build on what they already know. As a result, all children, including those with special educational and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress in all areas of learning.
• The indoor environments are beautifully resourced and cover all seven areas of learning. Babies and young children's environments are tailored to support the way in which they learn. For example, babies' physical development is supported by soft-play equipment. They use this to pull up on and develop their strength and balance required to support them in learning to walk. Older children enjoy physical play, such as riding scooters and tricycles, successfully negotiating obstacles. However, the outdoor environment does not consistently provide the same learning opportunities to support children who prefer learning outside, such as mark-making and reading opportunities.
• Children's communication and language development is prioritised. They make good progress in their speech and language development. Staff prompt lots of discussions through play. Flash cards and books are effectively used by staff to extend meaning and further learning. Children look at books independently and with their peers. Babies frequently instigate books they enjoy, and attempt to repeat single words and phrases. Singing and music is embedded throughout the setting. Older children proudly finish the endings to familiar rhymes and songs at group times.
• The management team are extremely reflective in their role. They are passionate and committed to delivering an inclusive and safe setting for all. Staff report excellent well-being, and their enthusiasm and dedication for their role is clear to see. Regular training opportunities ensure that staff are motivated to keep learning and improve on their teaching.
• Although staff have a clear intention to support children's independence, occasionally staff are not providing them with the opportunity to achieve this successfully. For example, at times children are reminded to wash their hands before eating and encouraged to wipe their own noses after sneezing. However, this is not done consistently enough. As a result, children do not have a clear understanding of what they need to become increasingly independent in managing their self-care needs.
• Parents report excellent daily face-to-face communication and regular updates of their children's learning and progress. Parents are integral to children's overall learning experience. Children benefit from parents who are regularly welcomed into the setting to share their first-hand knowledge about different topics, including religious festivals and celebrations. As a result, children learn about diversity and the world they live in.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the outside environment to increase learning opportunities that support all areas of children's learning and development
• support children to implement good hygiene practices and to become increasingly independent in managing their self-care needs.