First Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create a warm and friendly nursery where children are safe and emotionally secure. They enable children to share a wide range of interesting resources, to discover, explore, learn and enhance their skills at their own pace.

Children enter with enthusiasm on arrival. When some children show they need more time to say goodbye to their parents, this is handled with complete sensitivity so that children are able to confidently separate and enjoy their time at nursery. Children sustain high levels of interest in the activities provided.

They know the routine of the day and are confident and attentive learners. Childre...n use good manners and share equipment well with each other. They listen carefully to instructions from staff and enjoy taking part in a number of activities designed to enhance their early mathematical and literacy skills.

Children can confidently count and recognise numbers as they measure their towers in the construction area. They eagerly explain what they are doing and add words to the narrative when staff leave the anticipated gap. Children and babies thoroughly enjoy story time as staff repeat new words and sing songs with actions.

Babies delight as they show that they are familiar with the actions and eagerly repeat the movements to bring the song to life. They relish exploring sensory play, including the recently introduced treasure baskets.

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

The manager and staff team know the children well and have a good understanding of how children learn.

The curriculum is sequenced to build on what children already know and can do, and what they need to learn next. With this in mind, there are exciting plans to expand the curriculum. This will include experiences for children to help develop their understanding of the local community and interest in their counting and cooking activities.

Staff will include regular trips to the greengrocers and shops in the local community for children to explore numbers and to understand where food comes from and how to make healthy choices.Staff continually aim to widen children's current experiences to support their learning. For example, parents have recently spent time in the nursery taking part in activities that children enjoy.

This has been with an emphasis on showing parents, through first-hand experience, the nursery ethos and how children learn through play. Following the success of this, future events are planned so parents and staff can continue to share their ideas and further develop regular communication about children's learning at home and at nursery.The provider and the manager are focused on continually improving the quality of the nursery.

They gather feedback from staff, parents and children and use this to identify improvements. They provide their managers and staff with appropriate support as required. This includes mentoring and supervision.

Staff comment that they appreciate being able to talk to their managers about their work-life balance. All staff have access to regular training to build on their professional development. Plans for upcoming training include supporting staff's knowledge following the introduction of holistic play, including schemas and heuristic play.

Children develop independence from an early age. They use their skills successfully, for example when serving themselves at lunch and snack time and helping themselves to water throughout the day. Children are confident when brushing their teeth and putting their coats on, which they are taught to do self-sufficiently.

They learn to take care of their own safety as they are taught how to carry resources safely in the construction area. Children learn to show respect and kindness, and develop early friendships. They are confident as they welcome visitors and share delicious pizza with them.

Parents are highly complimentary about the care their children receive. They say that staff offer help and advice to continually enhance the experience for children. Parents say that regular information is shared with them about the progress their children are making and that their children show at home all the things they are learning and enjoying at nursery.

Staff promote children's communication and language well. They talk to children and ask questions that encourage them to think. They support children who speak English as an additional language through a range of activities and when regularly celebrating children's cultures.

However, staff across all group rooms do not consistently ensure children have rich opportunities to see, hear and use their home language while at the nursery.Staff complete assessments on children's progress to help identify children who may need extra support. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress.

Staff work closely with support from outside agencies. The provider and the manager continually review this to ensure all possible professional avenues of support to staff are available and to make sure children are receiving consistent reinforcement and support for their progress.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The provider and the manager place a high priority on keeping children safe. As a team, they ensure all staff are clear about their role and responsibilities for safeguarding children. Staff have updates to training and regular discussion so that they continue to be confident and familiar with the nursery's safeguarding policy.

They understand child protection issues and know the signs that may cause them concern. Staff know where to report any concerns about a child or an adult's behaviour. They regularly check the number of children they are responsible for in both the indoor and outdoor environments to remove any identified hazards.

The provider ensures that sufficient qualified and experienced staff are available. He implements thorough recruitment and vetting processes to ensure staff continue to be suitable 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: help children hear and use their home language during play and activities, to further support their development of speech.