Dinky Groves Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very happy and settled in nursery. They benefit greatly from the warm trusting relationships with staff and the friendships with their peers. They say they love playing with their friends.

Younger children look to a familiar adult for reassurance as they attempt a new task. They smile broadly at the encouragement they receive. They snuggle comfortably with the staff after their nap until they feel reassured.

Children confidently follow well-rehearsed daily routines. These promote their learning and good behaviour. For example, older children readily help to tidy up.

Children's behaviour is consist...ently very good because they know what is expected of them. Older children settle quickly to listen to a story. They join in confidently at group time to discuss how they are feeling.

They knowledgeably help to complete the daily calendar. Younger children calmly have their hands washed or wiped before lunch. They happily get their coats on because they know they are going outside to play.

Appropriate restrictions have been put in place to help maintain a safe environment, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite the restrictions, children settle well. Parents say they receive excellent information every day via the online application.

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

The manager supports senior staff to plan an interesting curriculum for the children in their care. This is effectively delivered and covers all areas of learning. For example, a project on healthy eating helps children to understand what their bodies need.

The project also enables children to practise their skills in communication, counting, drawing and matching.Staff skilfully provide lots of opportunities for children to practise what they know and can do. This helps children develop good recall and confidence in their knowledge.

For example, staff invite children to recount why milk is good for them as they play the shopping list game. Children are praised warmly when they remember how they made pancakes as they play in the pretend shop.The staff team work well together.

They talk with enthusiasm about how their training supports their practice. The setting's improvement plans are appropriate and understood by all staff. Senior staff model good quality teaching to others.

Less-experienced staff say that they enjoy their work and feel well supported by seniors. The manager has good oversight of staff's general capabilities. However, there are times when observations of staff practice are not sufficiently detailed.

For example, staff's occasional use of poor grammar goes unnoticed and, therefore, unaddressed.There is a strong focus on developing children's language. Staff engage children in conversation at every opportunity.

They are enthusiastic about their further training to aid their practice. Simple sign language is used, so that all children can express themselves. Staff effectively increase children's vocabulary while in the nursery.

Where children need more support, staff identify next steps to help them to catch up with their peers. However, this is not always effectively communicated to parents via the online application.Children enjoy books, stories and rhymes.

Staff actively engage children in stories. Older children join in enthusiastically with familiar phrases in their favourite books. Younger children are enthralled by the pop-up pictures and ask for the same book to be read again.

Children work up a healthy appetite as they play actively outdoors in the fresh air. They enjoy their healthy lunch and have pleasant table manners. They develop their strength and coordination as they move the crates and reels to create a walkway.

Younger children balance very well as they step carefully across the construction. Babies and toddlers proudly pull themselves up on their climbing frame. They hold on carefully as they cross the bridge and are helped down the slide.

Staff provide a good range of opportunities for children to investigate and consider their findings. They concentrate for prolonged periods as they use magnifying glasses to examine the insects in the water and under the logs. Children are fascinated as they search for items that will stick to their magnets.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff understand signs that might mean a child is at risk of harm. They also know who to speak to if they are concerned about a child.

Senior staff have experience of working with safeguarding authorities to secure support for children and their families. Safeguarding training is prioritised. Newly recruited staff understand how to keep children safe because this is covered in their initial induction.

Children learn the necessary skills to keep themselves safe. For example, they demonstrate how they have been taught to make a fruit kebab without injuring themselves with the skewer.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: share children's appropriate next steps more effectively with parents, so that they can better support their children's language skills monitor the quality of staff interaction in even more detail, so that children's learning can be further enhanced.