Yellow Brick Road Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly greeted when they arrive by their key person, who gets down to their level to hold discussions with them. They benefit from staff following their routines at home and learning new routines in the nursery. For example, children in the toddler room know that when staff ring a bell, it is time to go indoors, take off their shoes and wash their hands before lunchtime. This routine, implemented by staff, helps children to know what to expect next supporting them to feel safe and secure. Children in the baby room laugh and kick their legs in excitement of staff placing them into a swing indoors. They show that they thoroughly enjoy this calming experience, as staff gently push them forwards and backwards.

Children in the baby room are encouraged to take their first steps. Staff hold out their arms to entice children to walk towards them. When children do this, staff clap their hands to reward children's achievement. This helps to raise children's self-esteem and understand what is expected of them. Children in the pre-school room learn about snakes and spiders. For example, staff help them to understand that some spiders live in different countries, and explain to children that if they see a grass snake, they must tell an adult. This helps children to understand how they can keep themselves safe. Staff introduce new words for children to learn, such as 'venom' and 'prey', helping to extend their vocabulary.

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

• The provider and manager show a passion for providing children with quality care and learning experiences. They implement strategies to support staff in their practice. For example, the deputy manager spends time working alongside staff and supporting them to develop their understanding of how to enhance experiences for children. Staff say that they feel supported with their well-being.
• The manager and staff implement a curriculum that focuses on supporting children's communication skills. For example, when staff sing and do actions to nursery rhymes in the baby room, they do this slowly to enable children to follow and join in if they wish. Staff introduce songs to daily routines to encourage children to focus and support their speaking skills. For example, staff sing a song about washing hands when children do this independently.
• Staff know the children very well. They find out about their experiences at home and complement this in the nursery. For example, when children enjoy swimming with parents, staff offer them opportunities for water play. Children use containers to pour and transfer water. This helps children to develop their hand-eye coordination and understanding of measure.
• Before children start attending, staff visit children and their families in their home. This is to help develop strong relationships with them from the outset. It helps children to become familiar with staff before they care for them, promoting their emotional security. If younger babies are unsettled, they ask parents to provide an item of their clothing to use to help comfort them.
• Staff model using good manners and use sign language when they say 'please' and 'thank you'. This is to support children's understanding for those who struggle to communicate. However, staff do not always implement the manager's expectations of the rules and boundaries for children in the toddler and pre-school room. One example of this is when the expectation is for children in the toddler room to use kind hands. Staff do not fully support them to understand what this means.
• The cook offers children a range of nutritious, freshly prepared meals. The manager uses additional funding that some children receive to provide meals for them. This contributes to all children receiving a healthy diet. Children have opportunities to learn how fruit and vegetables grow in the garden. Their understanding of how plants grow is developed further when, for example, staff send children home with seeds, soil and pots to grow sunflowers. This is to encourage parents to be involved in their child's learning.
• Staff plan activities to support children's learning. For example, they help children to learn about size and numbers. Children are asked to use tape measures to measure themselves and to talk about the biggest and roundest vegetable they see. However, occasionally during these times staff do not manage to maintain some children's focus and attention. This means that they are not able to get the most from the learning experiences being offered.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the support for staff to implement the expectations of rules and boundaries for toddlers and pre-school children
• help staff to maintain all pre-school children's focus and attention during planned activities so they get the most from the learning offered.