Fun Farm Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children of all ages have opportunities to challenge their physical skills. For example, the nursery has a soft-play zone, where staff take children to help develop their core strength, balance and coordination.

Staff motivate the children to challenge themselves as they slide and climb alongside them. Children benefit from the staff's ability to recognise the uniqueness of every child. Staff respond positively to children's needs and consider their personalities, different life experiences and home routines.

They interact with children sensitively, nurturing their self-esteem. Consequently, children learn to be friend...ly, social and outgoing individuals, who show positive attitudes towards learning. Babies thoroughly enjoy singing time.

Staff enhance this experience as they use puppets and introduce musical instruments for babies to explore. Children watch in awe and learn about cause and effect as staff teach them how to make volcanic lava. Staff recognise that children like to take manageable risks and support them to understand that some risks could have consequences.

For example, staff remind children that walking up the slide the wrong way may result in them slipping and hurting themselves. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points. The special educational needs coordinators are perceptive and knowledgeable about how to meet the needs of individual children.

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

The staff know the children well and plan the learning environment to motivate them to play and explore. This includes providing babies with toys that encourage them to press buttons to create sounds and lights. When older toddlers show an interest in caring for baby dolls, staff nurture this interest and add dolls to water play activities.

This helps toddlers learn about health and self-care as they wash them.Staff show a genuine interest in playing alongside children and offer positive encouragement. Older children play harmoniously together as staff ask them to take turns to add bricks to build a tall tower.

Equally, staff talk to toddlers about sharing resources when making play dough.Overall, staff plan activities well. For example, they follow children's interests, offering them dough when they request to make pretend planets.

Children show their good knowledge of the solar system as they recognise and name different planets. However, at times, staff do not consistently challenge children. For example, during small-group time, as children explore sinking and floating, the staff ask questions to clarify what they already know but do not support children to build on their knowledge.

Overall, staff make good use of technology in the rooms to support children's understanding of the world. For example, they provide clips for children to watch of volcanoes erupting. Furthermore, staff and parents have been supported with electronic safety information.

However, staff do not yet help children understand how and what to do if they identify potential risks when they use the internet or digital technology.Management place a strong focus on staff's well-being. They support staff, mentoring and valuing them.

Staff benefit from tailored professional development, such as in-house training on using sign language to communicate with children with limited language. This support has helped the children to develop their communication and language skills.Staff gather and use keywords from parents to help them support children who speak English as an additional language (EAL).

For example, they use words in children's home languages to sing popular rhymes with them. This helps children who speak EAL develop a sense of belonging in the nursery and supports their language development.The management team have developed a strong curriculum throughout the nursery, based on what staff want the children to learn.

For example, there is a focus on babies developing their physical walking skills. Staff foster toddler communication through conversations and questions. Pre-school children learn to do things for themselves, such as dressing to go outdoors.

This prepares children for their future learning, such as starting school.There are effective partnerships between parents and staff. Parents speak highly of the staff.

They state the staff are supportive. Parents are pleased with the progress their children have made at nursery. Staff work hard to ensure they share ideas with parents to help them further support their children's learning and development 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: support staff to help children build on what they already know and can do help children to identify and understand what to do if they encounter potential risks when they use the internet or digital technology.