Early Education Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very happy and settled at this welcoming nursery. They develop secure relationships with the kind and caring staff.

Children display a strong sense of belonging and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They arrive eager and ready to start their day, happily separating from their parents and greeting staff with big smiles. Staff know children well, offering them encouragement and praise throughout the day.

As a result, children are confident and comfortable in the environment. Children enthusiastically share their preferences with their friends and staff. For example, they declare, 'I love red,' when... they notice the colour of their aprons.

Children behave well and are familiar with the rules and routines. Staff support children to share and take turns with their peers. Children are kind and caring to each other and learn to manage their own behaviour.

For example, children solve minor conflicts between each other, such as sharing toys, without needing the support of staff. Staff and children are calm and patient and this contributes to the warm and gentle atmosphere felt throughout the nursery.Children and staff love to sing.

Throughout the morning, staff and children sing to each other, with big smiles as they do so. Children squeal with delight when the music teacher arrives. Babies demonstrate their physical development as they happily shake the musical instruments along with the music.

Older children use their huge imaginations as they engage in role play. For example, children make 'soup' in the role play kitchen, adding different ingredients and reminding each other to be careful, as the soup might be 'hot'.

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

Leaders and managers have a clear vision and show great passion in wanting to give children the best start in their learning.

They are reflective and strive for improvement. Leaders and managers are passionate about supporting staff's well-being. For example, staff regularly meet with the manager and deputy manager to share ideas and have an opportunity to set goals and targets for their future learning.

Staff are praised, supported and empowered to continue their own professional development. As a result, staff morale is high.Children have countless opportunities to develop their physical skills and enjoy spending time outside.

For example, children ride bikes, make 'food' in the newly introduced mud kitchen and dig in the sand. Children show a keen interest in the natural world. For example, children were curious about the frog they found in the garden.

They carefully studied him and explained to the inspector that frogs make the sound 'ribbit, ribbit'.Staff engage with children constantly and place a key focus on children's communication. They spend a lot of time talking to children and create a language-rich environment.

Staff take the time to truly get to know every child and plan activities based on the children's interests. Occasionally, the dedicated staff, in their enthusiasm to engage with the children, do not give children the time and space to lead their own play. This, at times, limits children's opportunities to develop their critical thinking.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are extremely complimentary about their experience at the nursery. They state that their children love attending and make good progress.

Parents comment that their children's social and emotional development is very well supported, and they feel fully involved in their children's learning. They also discuss the sense of community that they feel within the setting.Staff expertly support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

For example, they use signs and visual aids to support children's communication and language. Staff work in partnership with parents and a range of outside agencies to ensure that the children receive tailored support to meet their needs. Together, they set individual targets and these are reviewed regularly to ensure that all children make good progress.

Staff plan an exciting and well-thought-out curriculum. Overall, they plan activities well. However, on some occasions, group activities are not as well organised.

For example, some older children become distracted during their group time because of the volume of the younger children's music session.Staff help children to learn about and respect differences. For instance, children recently celebrated 'cultural week' at the setting, where all the children and staff learned how to say 'hello' in all children's home languages.

This helps children to understand and respect others.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and managers ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

This includes a thorough recruitment process, induction and regular supervision sessions. Staff understand their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. They carry out regular risk assessments to keep children safe.

Staff have a broad understanding of safeguarding issues, including the 'Prevent' duty guidance. They know how to report their concerns about children's welfare or a colleague's conduct in line with the local authority procedures.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to support staff in their interactions with children, to allow children more opportunities to lead their own play and learning consider how to better organise group activities, to help children to remain engaged in their learning.

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