Hatton Children’s Nursery and Holiday Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children come to the nursery happy and excited. They greet their key persons with enthusiasm and tell them stories about their family events.

Staff members are warm and attentive to children. They know children well. Staff talk to children about children's new interests and what they want to learn each day.

Young children demonstrate they feel safe and secure in their room. They gravitate towards adults who give them cuddles and the full attention they need. Key persons ensure that all children have one-to-one interactions during the day to provide them with security.

Children are well behaved and very indepen...dent. They follow hygiene practices independently and always remember to wash their hands after visiting the attached farm. Staff promote the development of children's characters, imagination and self-expression by allowing them to freely explore a wide range of media and materials.

For example, children create a musical band by using various instruments and perform songs on a stage. Staff fully support children's independent choices of resources to enable them to lead their own learning.Children are physically active.

Older children jump, climb and take calculated risks outdoors, while younger children benefit from sensory experiences such as blowing bubbles. Younger children try to follow and catch the bubbles. Babies who have recently begun to walk balance as they follow the bubbles with their eyes and giggle as the bubbles float around the room.

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

Leaders create an ambitious curriculum that is based on monthly learning themes. Staff include families' cultural celebrations and children's interests to tailor teaching to children's needs. For example, children recently learned about 'Festa della Repubblica,' which is an Italian festival.

Teaching is sequenced to ensure that children learn skills in small stages and are successfully prepared for their next step in education.Children make good progress across all areas of learning. Older children learn about different reptiles' skin patterns and habitats, while younger children enjoy mixing colours and making patterns with their hands.

However, on occasions, staff do not make the best use of strategies to help develop children's critical thinking skills to extend their learning. For example, when children participate in a minibeast hunt, staff engage children in looking under leaves but do not ask open-ended questions to promote them to undertake further enquiries. This does not support children in drawing on their existing knowledge to evaluate ideas and form opinions.

Staff broaden children's knowledge and experiences beyond their community by inviting various guests, such as police officers, into the nursery. Children benefit from hands-on learning such as pumpkin picking and observing animals grow on the attached farm.Staff have meaningful conversations with children, and they act as good role models.

Children use good manners, and they are respectful towards each other. For example, when children want the same shape cutter, they discuss who should use it first. This helps children to learn how to take turns.

Children benefit from a healthy and nutritious diet. Older children are confident and independent during mealtimes. They demonstrate good table manners, such as using their cutlery when appropriate.

However, staff do not offer younger children the choice of using cutlery, such as a spoon or a fork, to enable them to practise self-feeding skills. Therefore, this does not help to fully promote younger children's independence at mealtimes.Mathematical concepts are well integrated into the children's learning.

Children pick up pom-poms with tweezers, match them with a picture of a ladybird and count how many they have in total. Younger children learn to sing number rhymes and practise counting.Children develop good handling skills by manipulating play dough and using rolling pins and shape cutters to create insects.

During the activity, staff highlight key vocabulary, such as 'squeeze', 'butterfly', 'wing', 'formation', 'rolling pin' and 'mould', to promote children's communication and language skills.Leaders engage effectively with staff, parents and children. They offer support and provide training for staff's professional development.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported effectively and make good progress in their learning and development. Their needs are identified promptly, and staff work closely with parents to address them.Parent partnership is effective.

Parents receive daily detailed updates on their children's learning and suggestions about how to extend this at home. The nursery organises events for children and their parents to involve them in nursery life. For example, parents attended children's graduation ceremonies, Easter celebrations and picnics.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Effective safety measures are in place to ensure that the nursery is safe and secured from outside visitors. The main entrance has safety locks and doorbells that alert staff members when someone waits outside, and each room has a safety gate to ensure that children cannot leave unattended.

When going out, children wear safety vests, and staff teach them how to keep themselves safe. For example, they learn to avoid speaking with people they do not know. Staff understand safeguarding arrangements well and know the procedure to follow should they believe a child might be at risk of harm.

They speak confidently about signs and symptoms that indicate a child is at risk of maltreatment. This helps to protect children and keep them safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review mealtime procedures to fully promote and enable younger children to practise independence skills nextend further the use of open-ended questions to give children more opportunities to think critically and extend their learning.