Blessings Nursery Fagley

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children show they feel happy, safe and secure in the nursery.

Staff gather information from families to help them get to know children before they start. This helps them to develop close bonds, and children settle in quickly. Staff are kind, caring and nurturing towards the children.

They offer plenty of praise and are good role models. Children's behaviour is very positive. Young children show awareness of their routines and follow clear boundaries.

Older children begin to concentrate during group times and talk about their feelings. The provider and staff team have high expectations for all children and fam...ilies. They carefully consider the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic for children and work hard to close gaps.

For example, they focus their teaching on helping children to be confident, happy learners and reassure parents who may feel anxious. Parents are thrilled with the progress children make and are keen to leave positive feedback. For instance, they say their children are now much more sociable and confident, even at home.

Other parents are very happy with the support they have received and feel the standards of care are high.

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

The provider, manager and staff team demonstrate an exemplary attitude to supporting families in the community. They go above and beyond expectations to make sure that children and their families have equal access to a wide range of experiences.

For example, they offer free activities at weekends and hold groups which promote healthy eating. They provide food and clothing banks and take children on trips into the community. This has a positive impact on children's well-being.

The provider has a clear, ambitious vision for the curriculum. Staff share his vision and are passionate about their work with children. The curriculum focuses on building children's communication skills and promotes their personal, social and emotional development.

Children make particularly good progress in these areas of their learning. They build secure foundations for future learning and are enthusiastic in their play.Staff help children to develop good communication and language skills.

They consistently model clear words and provide experiences which focus on extending vocabulary. Young children thoroughly enjoy singing and dancing to familiar nursery rhymes. Staff ask older children open questions during their play.

Older children are confident to share their ideas and show pride in their achievements.Staff encourage children to make choices about where they would like to play and learn. All children show confidence as they explore outdoors and are welcomed into other rooms of the nursery.

However, there are times when staff do not maximise children's learning during the free-flow play. For instance, older children are less challenged when they choose to play in the toddler room. In addition, staff do not plan for children to learn outdoors, despite this being a popular choice.

Children develop good levels of independence and staff actively promote healthy eating. Children pour water for themselves and enjoy fresh fruit at snack time. Staff focus on helping older children take an active part in their self-care, such as learning how to use the toilet before they move on to school.

However, facilities for toddlers to wash their hands are not easily accessible and good hygiene is not consistently promoted, particularly at snack times.Children begin to develop the skills they need to start school. For example, staff help them to persevere and develop resilience.

Children enjoy using maths in a range of activities. They can copy numerals to play hopscotch and count the spiders' legs as they draw with chalk. Staff encourage children to develop a love of stories from an early age.

Young children join in with repeated phrases and point out the bears' features in the book.Staff benefit from regular team meetings, one-to-one supervisions and access to a wide range of professional development opportunities. The provider promotes staff's positive well-being.

Staff say they feel valued and supported in the nursery.There are focused action plans in place to help staff make continual improvements to the new setting, many of which are being implemented quickly. For example, children thoroughly enjoy seeing the new rabbits and learn how to take care of living things.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Children's safety is prioritised in the nursery. Staff have a thorough knowledge and understanding of a range of child protection issues.

They know how to record and report concerns about children swiftly. Staff recognise signs of potential abuse and regularly refresh their knowledge of safeguarding. The provider and manager have a secure knowledge of allegation management procedures.

They have a good relationship with the local authority and receive regular safeguarding updates. The provider follows safer recruitment guidelines to verify staff's suitability to work with children. He obtains references and enhanced disclosure and barring service checks for all staff.

The manager shares specific risk assessments with staff. This helps them to keep children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: reflect on and enhance staff's teaching during free-flow times, particularly when children are outdoors or move to other rooms, to ensure that their learning is maximised provide young children with clear messages about good hygiene and enhance handwashing facilities so they can practise this for themselves.