Castle View Private Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled, and have warm and respectful relationships with their key person.

They arrive eager to start their day in nursery. Staff collect lots of information from parents when their children first start. This helps children to settle quickly.

Children access an environment that is well organised, safe and secure. They enjoy many opportunities to play in the vast outdoor areas. When children explore woodland areas, they delight in looking for butterflies.

Staff challenge children to recognise the colours on the butterflies and count how many they see.There is a strong focus on developing ...children's mathematical skills. When children build with construction blocks, staff encourage them to count how many blocks they have used to build their towers.

Younger children sing number rhymes and explore shapes and colours. Children behave very well. Staff use specific praise with children to help them understand what they have done well.

Children learn to share, take turns and respect each other. Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Babies are encouraged to roll and crawl.

Toddlers develop their small-muscle skills when they fill and empty containers with sand and water. Older children practise jumping, skipping, running and rolling hoops. They learn to balance carefully on ride-on bikes and stepping stones.

The manager has ensured that flexible settling-in visits have continued throughout the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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

Staff observe children to find out what they know and can do. The manager makes sure that there is a clear progression in the curriculum.

Staff take time to find out children's interests and plan activities that, generally, interest and motivate them.Staff regularly read stories with children. They encourage children to join in with songs and rhymes to help develop their early literacy skills.

However, some staff are not aware of the prior skills that children need to have to be ready to learn about letters and the sounds they represent. Also, some staff teach older children phonics incorrectly. For example, they add a 'u' sound when saying letter sounds.

When children move to a new room within the nursery, staff share information about children's care needs, interests, likes and dislikes. However, staff do not consistently share precise information about what children need to learn next in order to help staff to build on children's prior learning from the outset.Children are keen to communicate.

Staff listen carefully to children and comment on what they are doing. They introduce new words to children to help extend their vocabularies. However, some staff would benefit from extending their knowledge of how to support children's early language.

For example, at times, staff do not remove younger children's dummies when they are trying to speak or babble.The manager makes sure that the nursery is inclusive and welcomes all children. Staff implement effective and individualised care plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They liaise with external professionals, such as portage workers and speech and language therapists, to support children further. The manager uses additional funding to support children at the times that they need it. For example, staff use funding to provide additional help at mealtimes or to support children in small-group work.

Children listen carefully to staff and show that they are independent. For example, older children hang their coats and bags on individual pegs. Toddlers learn to feed themselves and wash their hands.

Staff encourage babies to make choices about what they play with.There are very strong partnerships with parents. Despite the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff make sure that they are available to speak to parents each day.

They keep parents well informed about their children's development. Parents are extremely complimentary about the nursery. They particularly comment on the care and support that staff provide for children who have medical needs.

Children learn to follow healthy lifestyles. Staff provide healthy and home-cooked food and make sure that drinking water is readily available for children. They cater for children's individual dietary needs and allergies.

Staff plan opportunities for children to plant their own fruit and vegetables on the nursery allotment.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff recognise the signs and symptoms when children may be at risk of harm.

They know the action to take and who to contact if they have a concern about a child's welfare. The manager provides staff with training to help to keep their knowledge of safeguarding up to date. Staff help children to keep themselves safe.

For example, they encourage children to take their hands out of their pockets and hold onto the rail while on the stairs, in case they trip. Staff talk to the children about the importance of keeping cool in the sun and drinking water.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide professional development opportunities for staff to extend their knowledge in the teaching of early reading and writing to better support the early literacy development of younger children plan children's transitions to the next room more carefully and share information about children's next steps in learning, so that staff can plan precisely for what children need to learn next from the start nextend staff's understanding and knowledge of how to support children's language development, so that all children can make the best possible progress in their communication skills.