Creative Stars Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and safe in this warm and nurturing nursery. Staff provide carefully considered educational activities linked to children's identified learning needs. All children learn and develop well.

Staff support children's early mathematical skills successfully. For example, children sort, group and count natural resources as they play outdoors. Staff help children to gain good technology skills.

For example, they operate simple programs on electronic whiteboards, which supports their understanding of the world successfully. Children behave well. Staff share group rules with the children and use praise well to... motivate children to behave in positive ways.

The children respect themselves and others from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Children take part in regular physical exercise outdoors, where they practise a range of skills, including climbing, jumping and balancing. However, staff sometimes miss opportunities to help children to understand the value of developing these skills.

Although the outdoor area has a range of activities covering some areas of learning, others are not well supported to promote children's all-round development.

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

Staff help children to develop good attitudes to learning. For example, children showed good levels of persistence and problem-solving skills as they worked out how to transfer a mud mixture between containers as they played outdoors.

Staff help children to learn how to manage their emotions, for example by teaching children the names of different types of feelings and how to recognise and manage them.Staff support children's early literacy skills successfully. For example, they sing action songs and teach new words, such as 'stomp', 'clap' and 'slide'.

Staff read stories to children in lively tones. The children enjoy repeating familiar phrases and making spontaneous comments on the story. Older children are able to recognise their names and have good knowledge of letters and sounds.

Younger children are supported well by staff to gain these skills.Children enjoy taking part in a range of creative activities and have good imaginative skills. For example, staff provided children with a wide range of textures and materials in the mud kitchen, such as herbs, twigs, and pebbles, which they used to make mud pies; at the same time, staff taught children new words to describe the different textures.

Children draw and practise their early writing skills using different tools, such as chalk and paint.Staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and to those identified as falling behind in their development. For example, staff provide additional early mathematical sessions to boost children's counting skills and understanding of shape, space and measures.

Staff work well with parents. They provide regular updates on children's progress and give parents good opportunities to support children's learning. For example, parents who are doctors came into the nursery to talk about their work, to support children's understanding of the world.

Staff work effectively with others involved in children's care and learning, such as speech and language therapists, to promote best outcomes for children.The manager ensures that staff are supported well in their roles by having regular one-to-one meetings with them to discuss their work and training needs. Staff have attended a variety of courses.

These included a course on planning stimulating environments, which led to improved outcomes for children. Workloads are also discussed and steps are taken to ensure that they are manageable.Staff ensure that children have healthy daily routines, such as regular physical exercise and eating nutritious meals and snacks.

However, they have not given sufficient emphasis to developing children's understanding of the value of these routines or to the importance of how to keep safe on the internet.Staff provide a range of outdoor activities, including physical exercise and tasks related to understanding the world. However, opportunities to develop some areas of learning through outdoor play are missed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have good knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms of possible concerns related to a child's welfare. They are aware of child protection policies and procedures to follow if they have concerns.

Staff have regular training to keep their knowledge up to date. The manager has a thorough recruitment and induction process to ensure staff are suitable for their roles.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nincrease children's understanding of the benefits of their healthy routines, such as eating well, taking regular physical exercise and knowing how to be safe while using the internet develop the outdoor provision further to support the children's all-round learning.