Jack and Jill Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are confident and independent learners.

They feel safe and secure and develop strong attachments to staff. Babies delight in opportunities to explore different sounds they can make with utensils and saucepans. Toddlers show great fascination in the noise coming from the roof when the builders start using their tools to fix it.

All children show a real enthusiasm for learning from an early age. They work extremely well together, solving problems around how to fit the train track together and what to use to attach string to the masks they have made.Staff support learning through children's interests, which helps... them express their imagined ideas exceptionally well.

During the inspection a child's initial suggestion to build a campfire grew into a wonderful activity involving a number of children of different ages whose interest was captured. Children collected sticks and tissue paper to create the fire and enjoyed toasting marshmallows for their friends. Skilled staff know when to support and when to sit back and observe, to enable children to lead their own learning.

Leaders have high expectations of children and recognise the priorities for their learning. They prioritise promoting children's early language skills and consequently children are confident communicators, including those who speak English as an additional language. Leaders accept this is an area where even more can be done to support children under two years.

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

Leaders have a very clear vision which is shared and embedded across the nursery. They observe staff practice and work alongside staff as positive role models to ensure teaching is of a good quality. They value their staff and ensure they are supported in their personal and professional development, for example through regular meetings and training opportunities.

Leaders ensure a rich and exciting curriculum is provided for all children. Activities are well thought out, and the vibrant and stimulating learning environment, both inside and out, is integral to the way in which children explore and investigate, playing an active role in their learning.Staff know what children understand and can do.

Any gaps or differences in children's progress are quickly identified and addressed. For example, recent changes made to the outside area have seen a significant improvement in the progress boys are making in their early reading and writing skills. A focus on how early mathematics is promoted has meant staff make very good use of children's play and incidental opportunities to promote children's interest in this area.

Children are keen and enthusiastic learners, which helps to prepare them for their future learning and their move to school.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are extremely well supported. Staff work very closely with a wide range of outside agencies and professionals to ensure children are fully included in nursery life.

All children are extremely confident and value one another, recognising and celebrating the differences between themselves and others. Staff help children to manage their feelings and understand what is expected of them from a very young age. Toddlers negotiate taking turns; children praise one another's achievements and staff use circle times and different resources to help children talk about how they feel.

This helps build children's confidence and self-esteem.Partnerships with parents are very strong. Parents speak very highly of management and staff and are valued as partners in their child's early learning.

Staff provide suggestions of how parents can support children's learning at home and encourage them to borrow resources. Staff work extremely closely with parents when children first start nursery to make sure they know children's individual likes and routines, helping them to settle quickly. This is particularly evident with staff working with babies.

Staff talk to children about what they are doing in their play. For example, they introduce new language when using the magnifying glasses to search for and compare insects. Staff model language and encourage children to think about things and explain their ideas.

Staff working with babies model and repeat words and use stories, songs and action rhymes to help support children's early language. However, they do not always use what they know about each child to help build on their early development and support their individual progress further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All staff have a secure knowledge and understanding of their responsibilities to safeguard children. They complete regular training around child protection and wider safeguarding issues and discuss aspects of this regularly at team meetings. Staff work very closely with other professionals to ensure they support children, and the family as a whole, when issues arise or when additional help is needed.

Leaders implement robust recruitment and induction procedures to ensure that all those working with children are suitable to do so. Staff make sure the environment is safe and secure and teach children about how to make safe choices in their play.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the monitoring of teaching in the baby unit to help staff make better use of information gained from assessment to support the development of babies' early communication and language.