Footprints Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children form warm, close relationships with the staff.

When needed, they seek comfort and reassurance from the responsive and nurturing staff team. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children show high levels of engagement and growing self-esteem, which supports them to try new activities.

For example, babies develop their core muscles and gain confidence as they are enticed to stretch and reach for resources in the sand tray. Older children show curiosity and become immersed in their play as they use pipettes to draw up and transfer water and learn to chop various vegetables safely. Children have many oppor...tunities to develop their physical skills.

For instance, babies negotiate the slide in the garden. Older children use baskets and balls to create their own game. They throw balls in an attempt to get them to land in the baskets.

They enjoy counting how many balls they throw. Children play imaginatively, such as pretending to be taxi drivers. They are excited to drive staff to the shops and to Disneyland.

Children's behaviour is good. They are beginning to respect each other's choices. This is gently reinforced by staff, who take the time to talk to children about feelings and boundaries.

Children are kind and friendly toward each other. Staff regularly praise them for sharing and being kind to others.

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

The setting is very committed to the ongoing improvements of the nursery, and staff have worked hard to successfully address the actions from the previous inspection.

Children benefit from an interesting and well-balanced curriculum. The staff team has created a curriculum for children that is both exciting and appropriate for their age and stage of development. Staff plan activities that allow children to take the lead in their own learning.

As a result, children are eager to engage in activities.Children are provided with a language-rich environment that supports their communication and language development effectively. Staff repeatedly model words in context, particularly for children who have a speech delay.

They speak to children with respect and engage them in back-and-forth interactions. However, very occasionally, the pace at which staff give information during play and activities is too fast for some children to consider, develop and express their own emerging ideas.Staff skilfully introduce new words and use mathematical language during play.

For instance, while playing with pumpkins, staff add new, exciting words, such as 'ladle', 'whisk' and 'scoop'. They encourage children to count and compare size. This helps them to extend their range of vocabulary and learn mathematical concepts.

Children learn about their community during visits to the library, butcher, and greengrocer. They take part in activities to mark a range of multicultural festivals throughout the year. This helps children to respect other cultures while embracing their own.

Children have access to a wide range of books. Older children listen with interest to stories and talk about the characters they see. Babies and toddlers enjoy sharing a book with an adult and practise turning the pages.

However, there are not enough opportunities for older children to use their writing skills to support their learning in other areas of the curriculum.Children enjoy mealtimes, which are social events. Staff support and encourage healthy eating and support children to grow their independence.

There are robust systems in place to ensure that all children's dietary requirements are met. All children are closely monitored when eating. This ensures that children are kept safe at mealtimes.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff provide books and resources, such as the lending library, to help parents extend children's learning at home. Parents receive daily feedback about their children's care routines and what activities their children have enjoyed.

Parents say how happy their children are attending the setting. They also say that staff communicate well with them. Parents particularly like the online app, which provides them with daily information on the activities and suggestions to support children's learning at home.

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: give children more opportunities to think about and consolidate the information given by staff during activities, taking account of their need to think about and share their responses and ideas provide more consistent opportunities for children to develop and support their attempts at early independent writing across other areas of learning.