Early Explorers Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happy and excited for their day at nursery, welcomed by the kind and nurturing staff team. New children settle quickly and seek comfort from their trusted adults. Staff help children learn the language of emotion.

They help children learn to recognise how they are feeling, how to express those feelings, and to develop ways to regulate their emotions. As a result, children have a good insight into how they feel, how their actions effect others, and how to safely express their emotions. Leaders have strengthened the curriculum for communication and language, ensuring that children are promptly referred for support... where required, once baseline assessments are made.

Staff are well trained to provide children with a strong curriculum focussed on songs, stories, discussions, and questions. Language is modelled well, helping children to pronounce new words correctly, and broaden their vocabulary. This helps ensure that any gaps children may have are rapidly closed and that they have strong progress.

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

The manager has taken effective action to ensure that the areas for improvement from the previous inspection have been addressed. Rigorous oversight and detailed operation planning by leaders ensures that staff are well deployed. This meets the needs of all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Children with SEND receive close support from members of staff with the appropriate training and skills. In addition, leaders have taken effective action to ensure that additional funding is applied for. This ensures that children have the tailored resources needed, and receive effective interventions from staff to make good progress.

Leaders have worked hard to ensure that the staff team understand the curriculum for all children. The manager's clear vision is well embedded. Staff have received extensive and ongoing in-house training, alongside supportive development from mentoring and coaching.

As a result the focus on communication and language and social and emotional development is delivered to a consistently high standard.Staff deliver formally planned and taught activities where children develop new skills. Such as the ability to mark make with purpose to develop good pencil control for later writing.

All children are well engaged and focussed on their learning opportunities. Staff and leaders have ensured that the exciting curriculum helps children develop positive attitudes to learning.Overall the quality of education is strong and all children make good progress from their starting points.

However, at times, the curriculum is not as challenging for the most able. While these children remain well engaged in their learning, and develop new skills, leaders are aware that this is the next target for improvement in the nursery.Staff teach children about culturally significant festivals and celebrations throughout the year.

This helps children learn about similarities and differences and gives them an initial understanding about life in modern Britain. However, leaders are yet to enhance this aspect of the curriculum to truly celebrate the specific and unique aspects of each child's own cultural heritage. This in turn will give real purpose to children's learning with true meaning about their friends, their own families, and the immediate community.

Staff ensure that children's independence is well supported along side a focus on being healthy. Children learn about the importance of good oral health and healthy eating. Staff teach them which foods are good for them by, for example, making mini pizzas with lots of healthy fresh ingredients.

Staff also help children to brush their teeth each day. Children help tidy away after play, taking responsibility for their environment. Staff give the children the time they need to become skilled at putting on their own coats before outdoor play, washing hands before meals, and support them in toilet training.

These are all key independence skills to prepare them for the eventual move to school.Parents talk with passion about the exceptional support the setting provide for children with SEND. They praise the partnership working with other agencies and the support they as parents receive.

They talk about the progress their children make and how this is supported by lots of ideas to extend learning to home. Parents comment that children make notable progress in their communication and language skills and in their social and emotional skills. This endorses the manager's focus for the nursery curriculum.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: further enhance the curriculum to celebrate children's individual culture and heritage strengthen the curriculum so that all children are consistently challenged.