Hollies Woodthorpe Drive Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are welcomed into nursery by the caring and attentive staff. They embrace the many opportunities provided for them to be physically active. Children discuss their experience at the forest school with a member of staff.

They talk about how they build stick men, climb rope bridges, and play hide and seek. All children learn to take risks as they play. Toddlers carefully hold onto the rail as they negotiate the changing levels of an outside walkway.

Pre-school children are agile and confidently climb the slide, pedal trikes, and jump on tyres. Babies squeal with delight as they climb the steps to the 'baby gym' a...nd slide down the other side.Children are enthusiastic learners, who thrive when they are presented with new experiences.

They play together purposefully as they explore activities and work out problems in games. Children behave exceptionally well, and are motivated to have a go and persevere in their chosen activity. For example, children are keen to learn how to use tools effectively and safely, to open up and investigate fresh vegetables.

Children are highly curious as to what is inside the vegetables. This is because the staff use effective teaching techniques and questioning, to engage children in their play and to extend their knowledge. Children eagerly watch and delight in each other's achievements, for instance, as each child opens a vegetable their friends look in awe at the number of seeds inside.

They discuss between them what they could do with the seeds.

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

Staff support children's language and communication effectively. They listen to children and use well-placed questions to prompt children's additional thinking, allowing them time to respond.

Children independently use words, such as 'disgusting' and 'delicious', to describe a potion they have made. Staff introduce new words, such as 'pestle' and 'pipette', to extend children's good vocabulary further.Children's behaviour is exemplary, and they show respect for each other as they patiently take turns during play.

For example, children show excitement and curiosity as staff teach them about a ladybird. They gently place their hands next to each other to see where it will go next. Children watch with interest as it crawls onto the next hand.

This enriches their understanding of how fragile insects are and how to be careful and kind.Staff intend for children to become independent. Older children serve themselves food at breakfast, snack, and lunchtime, while babies attempt to spread margarine onto a teacake.

Older children take off their shoes and coats and go to the toilet themselves. However, staff do not consistently encourage toddlers to pour their own drink or encourage them to try and take off their coat and hang it on their peg.Staff take steps to support children who speak English as an additional language.

They work together with parents to extend children's development of English, as they know this will help school readiness. For instance, staff use key words in the child's home language alongside English words. This helps to communicate with and build on children's understanding and correct pronunciation of English words.

Mathematical development is supported well throughout the setting. Older children, with support from staff, learn the difference between full, half, empty, high, and low when they explore mixing paint and water. Younger children recall names of shapes, such as oval, rectangle and triangle, as they build a tower with staff.

Occasionally, during play, some staff do not build on what children already know and can do. An example of this is when children join in with water play. The children immerse a cloth in the water and lift it up high to watch it drip into a bucket.

Staff did not engage with the children and extend their curiosity or learning further.Leaders and managers are strong and reflective. They are constantly reviewing the learning environment.

Time is given to staff to reflect and assess their own professional development, in order to improve the nursery practice further. For instance, leaders invested in taking staff to Italy to explore the benefits of natural learning environments for children. Staff have now reduced the number of resources on offer.

This creates a more calming environment and children's concentration levels have increased.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have a strong understanding of their responsibility to report concerns about children's safety.

They complete regular safeguarding training, including the 'Prevent' duty. Staff knowledge on child protection is regularly checked during supervisions and team meeting quizzes. The manager ensures all adults working with children have the necessary suitability checks in place to work with children.

Staff know what to do should they have any concerns about the conduct of a colleague. Staff carry out risk assessments to provide a safe environment for children to play in.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make sure staff use as many opportunities as possible to develop toddlers' independence skills strengthen staff's interactions with children so they build and extend on what children already know and can do.