ABC Private Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The manager and staff are long serving and work well together. They create a warm, family feel to the nursery. Many parents return with younger siblings.

The manager encourages staff to share weekly influential quotes with each other. This helps to motivate staff to provide good-quality care and learning opportunities for children who attend. Occasionally, staff do not use opportunities to extend and challenge children's learning even further.

Children arrive in good spirits, eager to learn. They show that they are happy and feel safe. For instance, children form close attachments with staff and firm friendships with t...heir peers.

Staff offer plenty of cuddles and reassurance for children who are new to the nursery. Children behave very well. They use good manners and are kind and respectful.

Children are confident to engage with visitors and share their views. For example, older children state that they enjoy 'watering the plants' and that they have 'good teas every night'. Children develop a good understanding of the importance of healthy eating.

For example, they help to grow their own fruit and vegetables in the garden. Children enjoy eating vegetable soup made from the harvested ingredients.

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

The manager and staff focus well on supporting children's language skills.

For example, staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to sing songs. Staff encourage parents to engage in conversations with their children. For instance, they display examples of questions that parents could ask their child at the end of the day.

Parents use designated areas to sit with their child and talk. Children tell their parents about the activities they have enjoyed in the nursery. Staff encourage parents to read bedtime stories with their children.

This helps children to develop a fondness for reading.Staff promote mathematics well throughout the nursery. For instance, staff working with babies talk about the size of balls as they roll them across the floor.

Younger children catch plastic fish using fishing nets, practising their early counting skills. Older children observe staff carving a face into a pumpkin. They learn about shapes, including rectangle, square and triangle.

All children explore the outdoor space and lead their own play well. For example, younger children balance on wooden beams and demonstrate good coordination skills. Older children pour water into pieces of guttering attached to the fence.

They learn about speed and velocity as they watch the water travelling along. Babies practise their physical skills. For instance, they jump and splash in rain puddles.

Staff supervise children well to help to keep them safe. However, staff do not consistently challenge and extend children's learning further. Their teaching does not fully support children to develop skills at the highest levels.

Children thoroughly enjoy exploring outside. They often look for worms under logs. Children become excited when they hunt for insects in the garden.

Staff show them where a spider has formed a web in the 'bug house'. Staff comment and ask some questions to encourage children to share their ideas. However, they do not use highly skilful questioning methods to support children to think, predict and test out their own ideas.

The manager and staff provide children with a well-planned curriculum overall. They use effective systems to assess children's good progress. They consider children's individual interests and next steps in learning when planning activities.

The manager and staff prepare children well for future learning and school.The manager supports children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. She works well with parents and professionals to provide children with targeted support.

This helps children to catch up with their peers.Children show a positive attitude to learning. They respond well to the staff's kind and caring interactions.

Staff provide ways to help children to develop a strong sense of belonging. For instance, children include mini photographs of themselves and their friends in play. This helps children to develop a positive sense of themselves and others.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff access regular safeguarding training. They read local authority updates to ensure that their knowledge of child protection is current.

All staff have completed training to help them to understand their responsibilities under the 'Prevent' duty guidance for England and Wales 2015. The manager and staff know what action to take should they have any concerns about a child's welfare. All staff have a relevant first-aid qualification.

They supervise children closely and remind children to stay safe as they play. Children know to walk with care and are mindful of others as they move around the nursery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nenhance teaching so that staff consistently extend and challenge children's learning further to develop their skills to the highest levels provide more ways to extend children's problem-solving skills and encourage them to think, predict and test ideas.