Fennies Addiscombe Road

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The nursery provides a range of interesting activities for the children. This helps children to develop a positive attitude towards learning.

Activities are presented with care and look enticing. Familiar items such as play dough are seen in each room to provide continuity for the children. Staff adapt the activity to suit different ages by using a variety of tools, such as cutters.

Children learn to manipulate the dough by rolling it with their palms. This strengthens hand muscles ready for early writing.Children show high levels of concentration and engagement.

Multicoloured paint is squeezed onto foil for t...oddlers to explore with their fingers. This provides learning opportunities, such as mixing colours and exploring senses. Staff support children to plant seeds and herbs and they are given time to feel and sift through the soil before planting begins.

Children enjoy pushing the soil with both hands and making a mound, while others let it run through their fingers. The quality of activities is high, however, on occasion some interaction between adults and children are variable and does not always support children's learning and development.The nursery offers good opportunities for child development through enrichment.

Subject specialists teach Spanish, French, art, and physical education. The children learn about the world around them and keeping safe through special visitors, such as the dentist and fire service. They enjoy trips out into the community, for example they visit residential care homes for the elderly.

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

In the main, behaviour is good. Staff remind children to use 'kind hands' and take turns. Staff use praise and offer smiles to children who show good behaviour.

Children become engrossed in what they are doing and can often be seen playing with the same thing for long periods. For example, tipping, pouring, and making 'goo' with components leftover from a science experiment. The children use language for thinking to work together and problem solve.

They develop mathematical skills while measuring out ingredients and experiment with amounts to find the perfect consistency.Parents report high satisfaction when preparing children for the next stage in their learning. Younger children have settling-in visits and experience a gentle process of transition between rooms.

Staff support older children to make the move to school. Children become familiar with school uniforms, lunch boxes and book bags in the role-play area. Staff talk about the move and involve the parents.

Staff work hard to promote effective parent partnerships. Parents are invited into the nursery to play-and-stay events throughout the year. Staff share information through a parenting app.

Parents enjoy regular updates about their children and feel confident they are progressing well at nursery. Parents feel supported and enjoy good relationships with staff.The new management provide a consistent message for the nursery.

Long standing staff provide support to newer team members. Key workers have remained constant, wherever possible, and parents are aware of all changes as they happen. The management invest in staff through an ongoing programme of professional development.

Staff have regular supervisions to monitor performance and receive feedback.Staff work in partnership with other agencies to provide care and education for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff and outside professionals work together to agree strategies to support children's well-being and progress.

Staff know children well and help them to settle. Each room has a quiet area to support this.Room leaders complete daily checklists to help keep the children safe.

The nursery employs a robust three-point system for managing children's allergies and dietary requirements. In general, staff are deployed well and naturally move to where children need support. Experienced staff and room leaders delegate work and communicate well with the team.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The nursery is clean and safe. All staff receive safeguarding training and understand their responsibilities.

This includes the risks to children, how to raise concerns about another member of the team and the procedures to follow in the event of any concerns about a child's welfare. The nursery follows robust vetting procedures and induction processes to ensure staff's ongoing suitability to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to ensure that interactions are of a consistently high quality.