King St Day Nursery and Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive confidently and caring staff greet them with warm smiles. Children separate from their parents easily and quickly engage in activities that have been set up by staff to nurture their interests. For example, young children rock back and forth to music and watch with excitement as staff blow bubbles.

Children form close attachments with staff and seek comfort and support when needed. They learn to be independent from a young age. Babies feed themselves at mealtimes, and older children serve their own food and attend to their own toileting.

This helps to build self-esteem and to prepare children for the ne...xt stage in their education, including school. Staff listen with interest to children's ideas and extend children's language through good-quality interactions. For example, they add words to develop children's vocabulary and repeat back their speech to help them learn to pronounce words correctly.

Children enjoy plenty of fresh air and exercise to help keep them fit and healthy. For example, they run, jump and explore in the outside area. Children learn about the world around them through regular forest-school trips and outings to parks and other open spaces.

Children are keen to learn and explore the nursery confidently. All children make good progress from their starting points.

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

The manager has a clear vision for the curriculum which focuses on developing children's communication, social and physical skills.

Staff have a good understanding of the areas of learning they teach and meet the individual needs of their key children well. They plan activities to nurture children's curiosity to help them become motivated learners. For example, they link creative activities with a trip to the farm to help make learning meaningful.

Staff work with parents to understand children's emerging interests and help ensure continuity of learning. For example, staff provide familiar activities for children new to the setting to help them feel settled. Parents report that staff are caring and dedicated, and recommend the nursery to others.

Staff share stories and sing songs to help develop children's language and literacy skills. Older children listen intently and join in with the parts of familiar stories they know. Younger children sing songs as they play.

Children learn basic mathematical concepts to help prepare them for later learning in school. For example, they learn about size and shape, as they experiment with various-sized vehicles on a ramp. Staff support children to compare sizes and consider which ones will fit.

Older children are imaginative and enjoy cooperative role play with other children. For example, they pretend to be hairdressers and customers, acting out their experiences. This helps to build their social and communication skills.

Staff plan activities to support children to develop their hand-to-eye coordination. For example, children concentrate as they pour water from one container to another. They make marks with pencils, chalk and paint in preparation for early writing.

Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported. Staff learn basic phrases in children's home languages to help them feel valued. For example, they sing the 'welcome song' every morning, saying hello in all the children's home languages.

Staff use assessment effectively to identify the next steps in children's development. Where they identify significant gaps in children's learning, the manager and special educational needs and/or disabilities coordinator work together to put appropriate interventions in place. They work closely with parents and external agencies to help ensure that all children make good progress.

Children behave well. When minor disagreements do occur, staff generally manage this appropriately. However, on occasion, staff do not explain the consequences of children's actions to help them learn to manage their own behaviour.

For example, children pour water on the floor and staff ask them not to but do not explain that it could cause someone to slip. Children then repeat this behaviour.Leaders and managers work hard to ensure that children, staff and parents feel welcome and valued.

Staff receive rewards and incentives for making a positive contribution to the nursery. They report that they feel well supported by the manager and that morale is high. This results in a positive learning environment in which children flourish.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a strong understanding of their responsibilities in keeping children safe. They know the signs and symptoms that might indicate that a child is at risk of abuse and how to report any concerns.

The nursery is safe and secure. Staff undertake appropriate risk assessments to help keep children safe. Staff manage accidents well and keep parents updated.

Staff deploy themselves effectively to help ensure that all children are adequately supervised at all times. Safer recruitment processes are in place to ensure that staff 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: support children to understand the consequences of their actions on themselves and others to help them learn to manage their own behaviour.