Epsom Downs Children’s Centre Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Leaders and staff provide an awe-inspiring, creative learning environment. Children enthusiastically investigate and experiment with a variety of thoughtfully planned activities and resources.

The impressive outside area offers an abundance of equipment that includes working traffic lights, a beach and construction site. Younger children immerse themselves in messy activities tailored to support their development for future learning. For example, they take part in a large-scale mark-making activity to support the development of their gross-motor skills.

Children relish getting messy as they dip mops in buckets o...f paint and make marks with rollers and wheelers to develop their large-muscle movement. The activity is enriched by enthusiastic staff who role model and encourage children to participate and have a go. Staff use highly effective settling-in processes that support children's well-being.

Children and parents visit the setting prior to starting, to play and become familiar with staff, children and the learning environment. Consequently, children form secure attachments with staff. They are settled and happy in the setting and keen to play and learn.

Children of all ages play together cohesively. Older children are kind to the younger children and role model good behaviour. The manager and staff show a very high level of knowledge and understanding regarding child development.

This threads throughout the curriculum and impacts positively on children's learning outcomes and the excellent progress they make.

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

Parents speak extremely highly of the setting and praise the excellent support provided during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff shared ideas for activities to do at home to ensure all children had access to learning.

This weekly support still continues.Staff are highly inclusive and provide excellent support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They work closely with professionals to refer children to gain appropriate intervention.

Staff quickly identify gaps in children's learning, input strategies and use funding to ensure they make progress.Staff know the children very well and respond to their needs swiftly and sensitively. They role model good behaviour, talk calmly, ask open-ended questions and wait appropriately for a reply.

Mealtimes are well organised. Children sit in small groups and are constantly supervised by members of staff. Children are encouraged to serve themselves to develop independence and good manners are reinforced.

The quality of teaching is outstanding. There is a strong focus on mathematics throughout the setting. Numbers and mathematics resources are available to help children understand values and amounts.

Children playing with dice recognise the number four and also three dots on another dice. Staff ask them to add the numbers together. Children count to seven and display seven fingers, showing an understanding of the total value of the number.

They also find the number seven card and place it correctly on the number mat.Books are displayed around the setting to encourage reading and literacy skills. The manager provides books in the small-world area based on a theme to make the activity more meaningful and to inspire play.

For example, the small-world area on the day of inspection is a farm. Alongside natural resources and small-world toys, books are provided linked to the theme. The intention is for children to use the books as a resource in their play to enrich the activity and to promote literacy skills.

The setting provides an extraordinary language-rich environment. Staff are encouraged to think out of the box and share new exciting words to develop children's language skills. For example, the setting has a word of the week.

The word 'diverse' is introduced to the children and an explanation given of the meaning, 'a group of people who are all different'. Parents comment during feedback that their children use the word of the week in the correct context at home, showing they have extended their vocabulary.The manager has extremely high expectations and staff receive regular supervision to develop their learning and teaching skills.

Group activities are very well organised and tailored to the children's learning needs. Large-group activities are kept short, which ensures children have a quality experience and remain focused. They then move into smaller groups to concentrate on specific activities planned for their individual next steps in learning.

Staff liaise effectively with local schools and support transitions to ensure children can confidently move on to their next stage in learning.The manager is extremely passionate and has a clear vision for the continued development of the nursery. She constantly evaluates the provision and implements strategies to improve outcomes for children.

The children benefit from regular access to the school farm, forest school and trim trail. These excellent facilities complement the nursery and help elevate it to the outstanding provision it continues to be.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff know how to keep children safe and when to report concerns. They receive appropriate training and a regular safeguarding newsletter from the school to keep them updated and informed. Staff know who their designated safeguarding leads are and what happens next when a referral is made.

Recruitment procedures are robust and leaders have safer recruitment training. Staff risk assess activities and the learning environment effectively. They keep appropriate records of accidents and incidents.

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