Carousel Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement The provider does not have a good enough oversight of the setting and what they intend for children to learn.

Staff provide inviting activities that focus on the children's learning and development. However, some staff interactions with children are not of a good quality. They provide too much language for children, which overwhelms them.

This hinders children's progression in their communication and language development. With recent support, some strategies have been implemented to begin to make improvements, and leaders have been onboard with developing these. For example, processes have been adapted to begin to support... the well-being of staff.

However, not all strategies are fully effective. As a result, staff do not receive effective monitoring and training to help children to succeed to their full potential.Staff provide a warm and inviting atmosphere for children.

They form strong bonds with the children. These help children to feel emotionally secure and to settle quickly. Children demonstrate an eagerness to join in with activities.

Staff encourage babies to develop their hand muscles as they grasp balls in the ball pit. Toddlers learn about different animals as they search for them in the 'what's in the box?' activity. Pre-school children develop their imaginations through the environments that staff have created for them.

That said, occasionally during planned activities, staff do not provide enough ambition for children. This sometimes has an impact on children's attitudes to learning, and they become disengaged.

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

The quality of education is not consistently good.

Since the last inspection, leaders' oversight of what they intend for children to learn and how staff implement the curriculum has declined. This has resulted in leaders not being aware of areas that need to be developed. Following support from outside agencies, the manager has begun to place emphasis back on developing staff's knowledge and understanding.

Some staff have recently undergone training to develop their knowledge of child protection procedures. However, some staff do not receive precise enough targets to improve the quality of their interactions to a consistently good level. This results in the quality of education varying and children not always making the best possible progress.

Staff have a good understanding of children's needs and demonstrate awareness of how to tailor activities to focus on children's next steps. However, at times, during interactions with the children, staff talk too much and ask a lot of questions in quick succession. This does not encourage children to extend their vocabulary.

Consequently, children become overwhelmed, and this limits their communication.Healthy practices are not fully embedded. Following concerns being raised about the perimeter of the outdoor area, leaders have risk assessed this effectively and have limited children's access to this area.

However, again due to lack of oversight, leaders have not ensured that children are getting daily access to fresh air. Additionally, children are regularly encouraged to wash their hands before mealtimes but then play on the floor before eating. This does not help to minimise the spread of germs.

Children's learning in the outdoors is limited. When children have access to the outdoors, staff encourage them to develop their large-muscle skills by jumping and moving their bodies. However, due to the limited planning and resources, some children become bored and disengaged from their learning.

Staff have devised a consistent routine throughout the nursery. They use visual timetables effectively to tell the children that there is a change to the routine. This helps children to understand what is expected of them and to feel secure, as they know what is happening and what is coming next.

Staff form strong relationships with the children. Children can regularly be heard giggling as they interact with staff. Regular discussions are held with parents to ensure that staff are knowledgeable about children's care needs and how to support them.

This helps children to feel happy and secure in their environment.Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Targeted plans are regularly updated as children progress.

The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with parents to share ideas and resources. This promotes consistency, both at home and within the nursery, to help children to make progress.

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 meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date ensure that outdoor activities are planned on a daily basis and carried out to help improve the health and well-being of children 02/02/2024 ensure that effective arrangements for supervisions are in place to support the coaching and mentoring of staff to provide the best quality of education for children 02/02/2024 ensure that there is support in place for staff to access opportunities for training and professional development to improve the quality of learning and development experiences for children.02/02/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop leaders' oversight of the curriculum intent to support staff practice, particularly in relation to the curriculum for communication and language develop the outdoor environment so that this provides opportunities for learning outdoors.