Fun Farm City Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and have fun at the nursery. They laugh excitedly with staff when they use their hands to explore the texture of foam. Children thoroughly enjoy being in the nursery garden.

They ride on tricycles with their friends and take risks when they go up and down a small hill. Children are competitive and keen to tell their friends when they are first to get to the bottom of the hill. Children think about how they can solve problems in their play.

For example, when they experiment and use different tools to try and break ice. They demonstrate a positive attitude to learning. Staff have high expectations of c...hildren's behaviour.

Younger children say that 'sharing is caring', showing their understanding of the rules and boundaries in the nursery. Older children show positive behaviour when they play favourite games in the garden. They take it in turns when they pretend to be a wolf.

Children play in a clean and safe environment. They follow regular personal hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before they eat and after playing outdoors. Staff have heightened this practice due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

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

Staff promote children's communication and language skills and understanding of the world. For example, when staff show younger children birds in the garden, they explain the noise they make. Children copy the sound and develop their understanding of birds.

Parents comment positively about staff in the nursery. They praise how they have helped children to develop their speaking and understanding of English.Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their literacy skills.

For example, they encourage older children to form the letters in their name. Older children tell staff they have drawn a 'zero' when they use their fingers in foam. This contributes to children's early writing abilities and understanding of numbers.

Members of the management team seek the views of parents and staff to make improvements. They have developed the garden to provide children with opportunities to learn about insects. Children look for sticks and stones and tell staff they are making a 'house for a slug'.

Staff actively promote positive behaviour. They remind children to use good manners and reward children's achievements with praise and stickers. Children behave well and are polite.

Staff support children to be emotionally ready for their move on to school. They contact schools that children will attend and ask for a sample of the uniform children will wear. Children use this in their role play and talk to staff about the colour they will wear when they start school.

Staff use their knowledge of children to help provide opportunities to enhance the experiences that children receive. For example, staff in the baby room place a strong emphasis on helping children to explore and investigate different textures, such as paint. This encourages babies and young children to explore through their senses.

The management team and staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) effectively. They use additional SEND funding to enable children to explore sensory equipment, such as lights and soft furnishings. This gives children time to relax and explore.

Members of the management team have not shared with staff their approach on how to promote children's independence consistently. For example, the manager wants staff to encourage children's independence during daily routines, such as snack time. However, staff are not doing this in practice.

Staff use the curriculum to plan activities that encourage children to learn from their interests. For example, staff provide opportunities for children to run toy cars in paint when they show an interest in transport vehicles. This encourages children to develop the skills they need for early writing.

However, staff do not always build on what children already know and can do. For example, when older children recognise some numbers, staff do not help them to learn numbers they do not know.The management team supports the staff well, including their well-being.

Staff attend supervision meetings to reflect on their practice and identify how they can continue to support children's learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff ensure that the environment is clean and tidy.

They clean toys at the end of the day after children have left the nursery. This contributes to children's safety. The management team and staff have a good understanding of the signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm.

They know where to report any concerns that they have about a child in their care. The management team works closely with other agencies to promote children's safety and uses robust recruitment procedures to make sure staff are suitable in their roles.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove staff's understanding of how to help children to develop their independence, for example at snack time strengthen interactions with children and build further on what they already know and can do.