Al-Madina Nursery - Saltley

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled at this friendly nursery. They arrive eager to play and learn. Staff are warm and caring.

This supports children's emotional development and helps children to form close bonds with staff. There are plenty of activities for children to develop their early writing skills. Children enjoy making marks.

Two-year-old children enjoy painting with brushes and creating pictures with crayons. Pre-school children use pencils with increasing confidence and are beginning to write their names.Children are creative and spend some time participating in imaginative role play and dressing-up.

They... pretend to be doctors, fire fighters and chefs. Children enjoy pretending to make meals for each other or looking after people who are ill. Children develop strong language skills.

They join in singing songs and spend time talking to staff and each other.Children are beginning to learn about healthy lifestyles. For example, they eat fruit snacks, and benefit from plenty of fresh air and exercise.

Children develop strong small and large muscle skills. They build with construction bricks and work co-operatively with their friends to fix train tracks together. Children climb steps to the slide and manoeuvre wheeled toys around cones.

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

Staff implement an educational programme which focuses on what children need to learn next. They place a high priority on children developing the emotional, physical and communication skills they need to prepare them for school.Staff know children well.

They plan activities which capture children's interests and motivate them to learn. Staff make observations of children's learning and use assessment information to plan for what individual children need to learn next.Staff adapt activities to suit the different ages of children they teach.

For example, younger children learn about matching as they sort toys into baskets. Older children use scissors skilfully to cut out pictures of vehicles to match to occupations, such as a tractor with a farmer.Overall, staff interact well with children, they model new words and ask questions to test children's understanding.

However, at times, teaching is not at a consistently high level and there are occasions when staff do not place enough focus on learning intentions.Parent partnerships are strong. Staff share regular information with parents.

For example, they talk to parents daily, have parents' evenings and share information electronically. Parents comment very positively about the care and education their children receive and state that their children enjoy attending.Staff work well with other professionals involved in children's care.

They work together to plan for children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff understand how to support children who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff learn key words in children's home language to aid communication.

All children, including those in receipt of additional funding, make good progress in their learning and development.Staff encourage children to do things for themselves. As a result, children develop independence well.

For example, younger children tidy away toys when they have finished playing with them and pour their own drinks. Older children put their own coats on and wash the dishes after lunch.Staff plan activities to help children understand simple mathematical concepts.

Children enjoy filling and emptying containers in sand trays. Staff encourage children to sort and stack coloured rings. Children count as they build with wooden blocks and use size language, such as 'big' and 'tall', as their towers grow.

Overall, children behave well. Staff encourage children to follow the simple nursery rules, such as using 'walking feet' and 'kind hands'. However, staff working with two-year-old children are not always consistent in their approach to helping children to understand and follow these rules.

At times, staff do not reinforce the expectations to help children to know what is expected of them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff complete safeguarding and child protection training.

Staff understand their role to keep children safe. They are familiar with local authority procedures and the signs and symptoms that may indicate that a child may be more vulnerable or at risk of abuse. Staff know what to do should they have a concern about a child in their care, or in the event of allegations against adults working with children.

Staff complete regular risk assessments to ensure that the environment is safe for children. The provider ensures that the recruitment process is robust and that all staff are deemed suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop the supervision and training for staff to raise the quality of teaching to a consistently higher level provide consistent support for two-year-old children, to help them to understand and learn behavioural expectations at a faster rate.