Big Top Nursery (Roman Park)

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and babies receive a warm welcome on arrival. Staff provide a calm and nurturing environment, which enables children to feel safe and secure. Children are confident to explore, and show a positive attitude to their learning.

Children behave well. Children are happy at nursery and confidently find lots to do with their friends and with staff. They particularly enjoy being outside, where they can enhance their physical skills or learn about the natural world around them.

For instance, children regularly go on visits to the nursery's allotment.Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilit...ies well, to ensure that they are able to learn and play happily among friends. Staff identify specific needs early on and provide targeted support.

They seek help from outside professionals readily, where necessary, and this contributes well to supporting children's further development. In addition, good arrangements are in place to support children who are learning English as an additional language.Children are curious and keen to learn.

They find what is taught interesting, and this helps to ensure they remember what they have learned. For example, young children model animal noises to well-known rhymes and toddlers stomp like dinosaurs. Older toddlers use a range of tools competently, as they explore the pink dough they measured and made earlier in the day.

Pre-school children are gaining in confidence and can recall prior learning. For example, children are able to describe how the towers they are building are like the tower which 'Rapunzel' lives in. Children learn words such as 'squash, squeeze and stretch', and relate this to another favourite story they regularly read at nursery.

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

Leaders and staff have made significant improvements since their last inspection. They are a highly reflective team, and work very well together to provide the best possible environment for children to learn and develop in. The manager has been proactive in addressing the weaknesses identified at the previous inspection to implement improvements.

He has worked closely with his staff, the local authority early years team and a range of local professionals.The manager shows a good commitment to the professional development of his team. Staff meet regularly with leaders for supervision meetings.

This helps to support staff's practice and professional development and to identify any additional training needs. The manager places a high priority on the well-being of staff. As a result, staff feel valued and display a sense of pride in working at the nursery.

Children behave very well in the nursery. They are polite and well-mannered. Staff are excellent role models and have benefited from recent behavioural management training.

For example, staff report that they are more confident to support children's positive behaviour and to challenge any negative behaviour.Overall, staff work effectively to develop children's communication skills. For example, staff model language well; they regularly sing songs during routine activities and read to children with enthusiasm and excitement.

Children respond well to staff's interactions and enjoy the activities provided. However, at times, during some adult-led activities, children are not given opportunities to explore their own ideas and express themselves. This means, at times, some children do not have opportunities to express their own ideas, experiment and consolidate their understanding and skills.

The manager and his team are committed to providing high-quality care and education for all children. The manager reflects on the nursery and plans a broad curriculum that supports children effectively to make good progress. For example, the nursery has created 10 curriculum aims, which it wants children to achieve before they go to school.

Staff carefully follow children's interests. They use information from observations and assessments to plan interesting activities.Parents leave glowing testimonials.

Staff work well with parents and share information with them about their children's learning and development. For example, parents have access at home to their child's observations and regular development reports are shared with them.All children have a key person.

Staff understand the importance of this role in helping children to build attachments and to feel safe and secure. However, changes to the new staff team and staff deployment needs mean that opportunities for children to spend time with their key person are not always maximised. For example, not all children have their nappies changed by their key person.

Children understand the routine of the nursery, including following good hygiene practices. For instance, children understand the importance of washing their hands before mealtimes and wiping their noses hygienically, and staff promote good oral health to children and their parents.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have good knowledge of a wide range of safeguarding issues and know how to keep children safe. They recognise what types of signs and symptoms may raise their concerns about children's welfare and other staff's behaviours. Staff know how to manage any concerns should they arise.

This includes referring concerns to the nursery's designated safeguarding lead. Staff understand to whom they should refer any concerns outside of the nursery, such as external safeguarding agencies. They have direct access to information with relevant contact details for these agencies should they need to make a referral.

Staff understand their roles in keeping children safe, including supervising children and checking that the premises are secure and safe. Robust recruitment and induction procedures are in place.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: give children an appropriate amount of time to consider their responses to questions to allow them to be critical thinkers reflect on how children and key people can spend more time together to build further on children's attachments and feelings of belonging and security.