Childrensworld Newport

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children who attend this nursery are happy and settled. They interact positively with staff and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure in their care.

Most children are motivated to take part in activities. However, the quality of teaching and learning is variable across the nursery. Babies thoroughly enjoy sensory activities.

They laugh excitedly as they explore pumpkins, lights, bubbles, and treasure baskets filled with natural objects. Staff develop babies' confidence as they encourage them to explore without adult intervention and interact with their peers. Older children in the pre-school room are eager to join... in activities.

They concentrate for long periods of time and persevere at their chosen task. For example, they experiment to see which shapes they can fit together to make a bridge out of bricks. Older children are beginning to recognise mathematical concepts.

They learn simple addition and can sequence colours. Children learn to manage their own feelings and behaviour is good. They learn to share and take turns and older children discuss the 'golden rules' that are in place to help them to remember what behaviour is appropriate.

Children of all ages spend as much time outdoors as possible. Older children enjoy free flow to outdoors and can choose where they want to play. They enjoy hooking numbered fish and adding the numbers together.

They pump water and watch as it flows along tubes. Older children are encouraged to take controlled risks and develop their own play.

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

The nursery benefits from a forward-thinking management team.

The manager and area manager have a clear vision for the future and continually reflect on where improvements can be made. They understand the curriculum and recognise what children of different ages should be learning. However, this is not fully embedded into staff practice to ensure that all children make the very best progress.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, staff have noticed some changes to children's personalities and have identified some gaps in their learning. Babies born during the lockdown period are not as confident in their social skills and older children have developed some gaps in their mathematical understanding. Staff who work with these groups of children incorporate these skills into their activities to ensure any gaps are swiftly closed.

The quality of teaching for children in the other rooms is not as strong. Staff do not consistently plan activities that are age appropriate and at times, children fail to grasp what is expected of them. Children who take part in a baking activity are not fully involved and the activity is rushed.

Staff do not explain what is happening and they miss opportunities to extend children's learning and develop their communication skills. In addition, during circle time, staff provide younger children with pictures of emotions and ask them to choose how they feel. However, they do not explain the emotions to children and the concept is too hard for them to understand.

Children in the pre-school room thoroughly enjoy taking part in an activity to investigate a pumpkin. They learn new words, such as 'pulp' and 'anatomy', as they scoop the seeds and count how many they have. They estimate how many seeds are in the pumpkin and guess that there are hundreds.

Staff skilfully extend children's learning as they introduce letter sounds and children eagerly shout out words they can think of that begin with 's', such as 'snake'.The manager supports staff and monitors their practice. She observes activities and feeds back where improvements can be made.

Staff attend some online training to keep them up to date with changes and help them extend their knowledge. The manager recommends training courses if she thinks they would be beneficial to enhance staff's professional development.Staff work closely in partnership with parents.

They share information with them about their child's learning at the end of every day and through an online system. Homework bags which contain items, such as books, phonics and resources to develop fine motor skills, provide parents with ideas of how they can continue their child's learning at home. Parents are extremely positive about the care and learning their children receive.

They comment that they are happy with the nursery, that staff are helpful and caring and that the communication between parents and nursery is excellent.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a good understanding of the signs that may indicate that a child is being abused.

This includes, the 'Prevent' duty and female genital mutilation. They attend safeguarding training, and the manager asks safeguarding questions to continually test their knowledge. They are aware of the whistle-blowing procedure and know when and how to report any concerns they may have about a child or a member of staff.

Recruitment procedures are robust and checks are carried out to ensure that everyone working with the children is safe and suitable to do so. Staff are vigilant in ensuring the premises are safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nenhance professional development opportunities to help staff to fully embed the curriculum support staff to consistently provide all children with age-appropriate activities and to recognise when and how to extend children's learning and communication skills even further.