Strawberries Private Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff welcome children warmly as they arrive at this friendly nursery. Children are eager to begin their learning.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children's behaviour is good. They are polite and kind to their friends.

Older children ask their friends politely if they can sit on their chair and share their toys. Children show high levels of concentration. They have a positive attitude to their learning.

Children enjoy the outdoor area. They run and chase each other. Staff support children to develop their balancing skills while playing on a seesaw and walking along the obstacle course....r/>
Staff teach children to play traditional outdoor games. For example, children enjoy playing 'What time is it Mr Wolf?' and 'hide and seek' with their friends.Staff form strong relationships with children and their families.

They support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) very well. Children use their key person as a secure base to explore the environment. They feel happy and safe.

Children go to adults for comfort when they are upset. They ask for support when needed. For example, children ask for help to fasten the zip on their coat.

Children make good progress and develop the skills they need for the next stage of education.

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

Staff support children to develop their physical skills. They provide opportunities for children to practise the skills they learn.

Staff organise the environment so that babies have space to roll and crawl. They place low-level furniture to encourage young children to walk from one unit to another. Staff help toddlers to balance their bodies as they climb the steps of a slide.

Older children develop their small muscles. Staff provide resources to encourage children to use the muscles in their fingers. Children develop good mark-making skills.

Children develop good independence skills. Staff plan activities that build on what children already know and can do. For example, babies learn to use a spoon to feed themselves and begin to use an open cup.

Toddlers drink confidently from an open cup and begin to learn to self-serve their food. Older children use a knife and fork and learn to put their coats on.Staff promote language and communication very well, particularly for children with SEND.

They model language effectively. Staff introduce new words to children as they play. For example, during a planting activity, staff model the words 'damp' and 'sprout' to describe the soil and bulbs.

Children become confident communicators.Overall, staff plan engaging activities for children. They share stories and songs and play games with children.

However, sometimes, staff do not limit the number of children taking part. For example, during a planned activity, there are too many children accessing the resources at once. This means learning time is lost as they wait to take part.

Staff promote children's literacy and mathematical development effectively. In mathematics, they count and model the numbers '1,2,3' with babies as they build with bricks. Toddlers join in number rhymes and older children count objects and develop an understanding of size and shape.

In literacy, children learn to recognise their names from their meal place mats and their coat hooks. Staff provide a range of resources for children to make marks. Children enjoy purposeful mark-making activities.

Babies enjoy painting and older children begin to write the letters of their names.Managers use additional funding effectively to support children from disadvantaged backgrounds and those with SEND. Staff plan and follow clear strategies to support children's individual needs.

Parents of children with SEND report their children make very good progress.Children develop good health and hygiene practices. They learn to wash their hands before eating and after playing outside.

Staff talk about foods that are healthy. They provide healthy well-balanced meals.Managers effectively evaluate staff practice.

They complete supervisions with staff to provide support, coaching, and training. However, sometimes, managers do not check the effectiveness of the training that staff undertake. This means that managers are not clear whether staff's understanding is secure or that they are putting their learning into their practice.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: norganise group activities more effectively so all children can partake and access the planned learning nensure managers check that staff's knowledge and understanding following training is secure and is being implemented in practice.