The Shekinah Glory Day Nursery And After School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children play happily with friends and welcome staff to join their games. For example, children pour sand into different containers.

Staff ask them which pot holds the most sand. Children pause, look at the pots, then point to the largest one. Very young children are delighted when they press down on clear bags containing paint.

They watch the colours mix together, listening intently to the words staff introduce, such as 'squash'. This helps children build on their emerging vocabularies.Children enjoy listening to stories and taking part in retelling them.

They use props to help recall popular stories, such as... one about a hungry caterpillar. Children work out the order of events, helping to develop skills for early literacy and mathematics. Children are encouraged to use their own words in their storytelling, helping them to become articulate individuals.

Children follow their interests. For example, when they find a ladybird, staff encourage them to look at the characteristics, such as counting the spots. Children enthusiastically work out the best place to put the creature, leading them to recall which plants they are growing in a raised bed.

This helps children consolidate what they already know and allows them to find solutions to problems, helping them develop their thinking skills.

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

The owner has taken swift action to improve their food hygiene procedures, following instruction from another agency. She now ensures that food is appropriately stored and heated, and the temperature of hot food is checked before serving to children.

Staff have completed additional training and show that they understand how to maintain food hygiene safety. This includes recording relevant information about the checks they make, in line with food hygiene guidance.The owner, who is also the manager, and her staff have a good understanding of children's family backgrounds.

This helps them ensure that support offered reflects any specific needs they require. The manager and key persons share ideas with parents to help them support children's learning at home.Children who speak English as an additional language are very well supported.

Staff read stories in both English and the language they speak at home, helping children to deepen their understanding of the words they hear. Staff use pictures to help children learn key words, helping them make choices and understand routines. This helps them quickly settle in the nursery.

The manager and her staff take time to support parents. Staff help to interpret application forms and printed information. This helps to ensure that the most suitable support and continuing education for children is appropriately accessed.

The well-qualified manager is motivated to make continued improvements in the nursery. She values regular reviews from outside professionals, helping her and her staff identify areas to raise the quality of education even more. The manager supports staff to develop their professional knowledge through relevant training courses, contributing to an even deeper understanding of how children learn.

Children are motivated to learn. They make choices about the activities they join in with and remain engaged. However, at times, children's play and explorations are interrupted by staff so that routines, such as nappy changing, can take place.

On these occasions, children are unable to find a natural conclusion in their learning and their spontaneous curiosity is suppressed.There is a good balance between children's self-chosen play and learning and activities planned and supported by staff. However, at times, staff do not tailor group activities to individual children's needs to help them learn in a clear sequential way.

As a result, children do not make the best possible progress.Children behave well. They take turns and share resources.

Minor disputes are quickly resolved when staff remind them of the simple rules. On occasions, however, staff do not give explanations to why rules are in place. They do not consistently encourage children to think through how they can begin to keep themselves and others safe.

For example, children do not show an understanding as to why sun hats are important in hot, sunny weather.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff know when and how to record and report any concerns they have about children's welfare.

They know which members of staff have responsibility for overseeing safeguarding in the nursery. Staff can also find the contact details necessary for passing on information to outside agencies themselves. This helps to protect children from harm.

Senior staff use questionnaires to assist them in monitoring staff's knowledge about safeguarding. This helps them identify future training needs to strengthen and refresh staff's awareness and understanding.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review routines, such as when nappies are changed, to help ensure children's spontaneous learning is not unnecessarily interrupted support staff to identify when and how to introduce activities to children so that there is a clear focus for the learning that builds on what individual children need to know and understand next find ways to help children have a deeper understanding of the rules and routines to enable them to learn to keep themselves and others safe.