Just Imagine Day Nursery - Maldon

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happily and are welcomed enthusiastically by friendly staff. Children develop close relationships with staff, who know them well. Children make their own play choices from a good range of well-presented resources.

Children are polite and behave well. They play together cooperatively and share the resources. Children develop good social skills and happily chat to each other, staff and visitors.

Children are inquisitive and curious. For example, they carefully fill different containers with sand, testing different utensils to consider which ones work better. They look intently at the shells they find in t...he sand and discuss the different colours and textures with staff.

Children extend their own play and show good imagination. For example, they mix mud and water together until they are happy it looks like a 'cake mixture'. They say, 'we can pretend this is our oven,' pointing to a small table.

Children say they enjoy playing outside. They develop their physical skills as they push themselves along on the bicycles and scooters, showing good control. Children learn about nature and the environment.

For example, they are keen to show visitors the sunflowers they planted from seeds and talk about the strawberries they grew and ate. Children water the plants and say, 'they need a drink'.

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

The dedicated and passionate manager demonstrates a high-quality vision for the nursery.

She shares her vision with the staff team, which welcomes and praises her new initiatives. Staff morale is very high. Staff feel their well-being is given a high priority and say they are supported well in their roles.

As a result, there is a very positive and happy atmosphere throughout the nursery.Staff have a clear understanding of what they want children to learn. They plan purposeful learning to challenge and promote each child's learning.

Staff provide opportunities for children to practise and develop their knowledge and skills. Children's progress is carefully monitored and reviewed by the manager. As a result, children develop good knowledge and skills in all areas and are ready for the next stage in their learning.

The manager monitors the quality of teaching and promotes staff's professional development. Some aspects of teaching are outstanding. For example, staff use effective strategies to challenge children to think for themselves, such as giving children different choices to consider and testing out different ideas.

However, during some group activities, staff do not always implement effective strategies to sustain children's engagement. As a result, some children lose interest and miss out on their learning.Staff talk to children constantly throughout the day.

They show a genuine interest in what children have to say and give children time to consider their answers. Staff introduce new words during activities and discussions and children have good recall. For example, children confidently name body parts such as 'skull', 'ribs', 'triceps' and 'glutes'.

Staff expand their vocabulary further by talking about 'calcium'. As a result, children develop good language skills.Staff provide a variety of opportunities for children to develop their knowledge of mathematics.

For example, children enjoy creating pictures and patterns by drawing around brightly coloured shapes. Children demonstrate good knowledge. For example, they name simple shapes and say they have made a square by putting two rectangles together.

Parents are very complimentary about the nursery. They say staff are friendly and approachable. Parents say they are well informed about their children's learning and how they can support this further at home.

They value the daily feedback from staff when they collect their children. Parents comment that children 'learn so much and make good progress at the nursery.' Staff promote children's independence and children are familiar with good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands before eating.

They learn about their local community and celebrate some festivals. However, staff do not consistently support children to develop further knowledge about different cultures, festivals and celebrations that are important to them and their friends at the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

All members of staff are confident in identifying the possible signs and symptoms of abuse. They have a thorough understanding of the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child's well-being or the conduct of a colleague. Staff complete training and have regular discussions to ensure their knowledge of safeguarding issues remains secure and up to date.

Recruitment and vetting procedures are rigorous. An extensive induction programme and ongoing supervision ensures all adults are suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review the teaching of group activities more closely and implement effective strategies to extend children's engagement and raise the quality of teaching to the highest level at all times nexpand children's knowledge and understanding of different communities further and support them in learning about the different cultures, festivals and celebrations that are important to them and their friends.

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