Aflah Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

All children are warmly welcomed into the nursery by the friendly, familiar staff. Staff spend time with children and get to know them when they first start.

This helps children to settle quickly. Children are gaining in confidence and behave well.Children enjoy activities such as sensory play with shredded paper, gloop and porridge oats.

Staff extend children's language by providing them with descriptive words, such as soft, sticky and crumbly. Children make marks for a purpose with a range of resources. For example, children use clip boards to make marks in the construction area and a range of tools to make marks wit...h paint, such as, rollers, brushes and cotton buds.

This supports children's early writing skills.Children actively engage in a variety of planned outings to enhance children's understanding of the world around them. These include visits to the library, farms, museums, trips to local shops and excursions to parks.

Additionally, staff ensure that children get fresh air daily with short walks and have opportunities to explore and learn about their local community and the world beyond. Staff use these experiences to help to broaden children's knowledge, foster their curiosity and develop a deeper connection to the world they live in.

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

Leaders are committed to ensuring that staff's well-being and professional development are well maintained.

Leaders provide regular opportunities throughout the year to meet as a group and individually to build a strong and effective team that benefits the children. This helps to create a happy working environment.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.

Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to provide children with personalised support plans to help them make the best possible progress. Any additional funding the nursery receives is used to support children's individual needs.Although leaders have a clear vision for the intent of their curriculum, during adult-led activities staff do not implement this as successfully as they could.

For example, staff do not fully consider how to make the best use of the environment they have created. For instance, staff plan a range of exciting experiences for children. However, children do not always participate in purposeful learning as staff do not always engage children with the planned learning activities on offer.

Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff are animated as they read books and sing songs with actions, throughout the day. They use visual aids to help children's understanding.

This helps children, including children who speak English as an additional language to be good communicators.Staff generally interact well with children throughout the day. They demonstrate new skills to extend learning.

However, when staff are completing tasks, such as preparing for snack, or preparing to go outside, children sometimes wait too long without adult support. On these occasions, children become distracted and begin to wander. During these brief times, children are not fully engaged in purposeful learning.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents feel extremely involved and very well informed about their children's learning. Parents receive regular communication regarding their children's learning and development, including resources for parents to build on their children's learning at home.

Staff support children in developing the social skills needed to build positive relationships with peers. They model these behaviours and provide children with the vocabulary to express themselves. Older children learn to self-regulate, manage emotions and discuss their feelings.

This helps children understand positive behaviours and show respect for others.Children learn about healthy foods and the importance of drinking water regularly. However, hygiene practices are not always consistent.

For example, staff remind children to wash their hands after using the toilet and before snack. Yet, on occasions, some staff do not encourage children to put their hands over their mouths when coughing, particularly at snack time, increasing the risk of infections spreading. Therefore, staff do not consistently support children to develop healthy lifestyle habits.

Children form close relationships with their key person. Staff comfort children and offer them reassuring warmth and affection. This helps children to gain in confidence and feel safe, and secure.

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: refine the planning of adult-led activities and ensure that the intent for the curriculum is consistently implemented in practice plan the routine effectively, so waiting times are reduced and children are supported to remain engaged in learning nensure that staff give clear messages to children about the importance of adopting healthy lifestyle habits.