Making Friends Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are supported to feel safe, settled and secure by the caring staff team. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, parents are no longer allowed to enter the setting.

Hand overs are completed at the entrance and parents confirm that staff keep them well informed about how their children have been. Staff have noted an impact on children's personal, social and emotional development since COVID-19. Young children sometimes feel unsettled when they start at the nursery.

This is because they are not used to socialising with other children and adults outside of their immediate family. Staff provide lots of comfort when child...ren become upset, offering cuddles and reassurance. This helps children to begin to feel emotionally secure and to develop close bonds with staff.

Children benefit from planned daily opportunities for outside play, which supports their all-round development. Staff take small groups of babies outside throughout the day to ensure every baby has an opportunity to play outside in the fresh air. Older toddlers develop their physical skills as they enjoy learning how to safely negotiate obstacle courses.

Books are accessible to all age groups of children and staff regularly read to individual and groups of children. Babies enjoy sitting with their key person and listening to a story. As children get older, staff read a specific book throughout the month to them.

This helps children to develop their listening and communication skills as they learn to recall familiar parts of the story.

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

Management have a clear overview of the provision and plans are in place to support continuous improvement. Several staff have recently been promoted to senior positions, with the manager closely supporting them in these new roles.

Staff performance is regularly monitored, and training provided. This helps staff to maintain good stands of care and learning.Staff continually review children's progress, which enables them to quickly identify any child who is at risk of falling behind in their development.

Outside agency support is obtained for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. This all positively contributes to narrowing potential gaps in children's achievements.The manager has a very clear overview of what she wants children to learn over time.

Each learning outcome is carefully broken down into the steps children will need to take to achieve the end goal. This is shared with staff, so that they can help children to continue to build on their knowledge and skills.Overall, children's communication and language is promoted well.

Staff encourage babies to repeat simple words and sounds associated with a linked toy. Staff are skilled at chatting to children as they play, narrating what is going on and asking questions. However, sometimes more confident children begin to lead these discussions as they are more vocal in answering the questions asked.

This leaves less confident children and those with minimal language, listening but not being actively encouraged to extend their speaking skills.During a baking activity, pre-school children identify the ingredients they need to make 'buns'. They learn to weigh the ingredients out and predict what will happen as they mix the ingredients together.

Children recall prior learning as they explain once the 'buns' are cooked they will rise and get a lot bigger.Children are encouraged to learn good hygiene practices from a young age. Babies are supported to try and wipe their own hands and faces with a cloth.

Toddlers and children over the age of two learn to wash their hands at the sink. Two-year-olds are encouraged to access tissues independently and they are supported to learn how to wipe their own nose. Children benefit from healthy meals and are provided with drinks of water or milk only.

Staff talk to children about the benefits of healthy eating. However, they do not plan further opportunities to extend children's understanding of good oral health.Two-year-olds enjoy playing with the play dough.

They use their hands to pull, push, prod and squish the play dough into different shapes. Staff understand how this supports children to develop the muscles, control and movements of their hands, which are important skills for early writing and drawing.Staff support babies to develop their physical skills and independence as they learn to feed themselves.

As children get older, staff support them to move from a lidded cup to an open-topped cup. They also support them to more skilfully use utensils to cut up their own food. From the age of two, children are supported to try and pour their own drinks.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Children are supervised well, and clear safety procedures are followed to ensure children always remain accounted for. Robust recruitment procedures are in place, and staff confirm their ongoing suitability daily.

This helps to ensure children are continually cared for by suitable staff. The manager and staff fully understand their safeguarding responsibilities. They have a clear understanding of a wide range of possible indicators of abuse.

Staff know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child or adult. The manager completes regular safeguarding quizzes to ensure staff's safeguarding knowledge remains current. Most staff hold first-aid certificates.

For any children with allergies or medical conditions, health care plans are completed and known by all staff. This ensures children's well-being is maintained.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to consistently encourage quieter children and those with less language to increase their vocabulary support staff to extend children's knowledge of oral health.