Marsh Lane Day Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff are friendly, warm and welcoming at this nursery. They know the children well and form good relationships with them.

Children are happy and relaxed in the well-organised environment. Staff have set routines so that children can predict what will happen next. This helps children to feel safe.

Staff use praise and encouragement to motivate children. This develops their confidence and self-esteem.Staff form good relationships with parents and carers.

They keep parents informed about their children's learning via an online application and with regular progress reports. Parents feel safe leaving their childre...n at the nursery and feel that they are well cared for.Children behave well and show good attitudes towards learning.

Staff manage children's behaviour effectively. They explain why certain unwanted behaviours are unkind, to help children understand how to behave. They teach children how to cooperate and share.

This helps children learn the social skills they will need for the next stage in their education.The manager is very reflective and regularly uses feedback from staff and parents to improve the nursery. She looks for gaps in staff knowledge and organises training to address them.

She thinks about the well-being of her staff and gives them time to plan activities and think about the needs of their key children. Staff like working at the nursery and feel the manager considers their views and opinions. This makes them feel valued.

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

Staff get to know the children well. They ask parents to provide information about events happening outside of the nursery. They use this information to plan activities for children.

For example, staff help children to make birthday cards for family members. They ask parents to provide pictures of their pets from home for an activity about animals. This helps to make learning meaningful for children.

Staff sing songs, read stories and get involved in imaginative play across the nursery. For example, staff encourage children to act out stories while introducing new vocabulary, such as 'crunchy' and 'soft'. They encourage children to be creative in their play, using cardboard boxes as different props such as museums and boats, for example.

They carefully narrate what children are doing. This provides children with a language-rich environment and helps them to develop good speech and language skills.Staff think about individual children's interests when planning activities.

This motivates children to join in with activities and encourages a good attitude towards learning. Staff know what they want children to learn and plan activities accordingly. However, at times, staff try to cover too many concepts in one activity and lose focus on the learning outcome.

This means that some children do not develop an in-depth understanding of each individual aspect.Staff encourage children to be independent across the nursery. They support younger children to wipe their own noses and to dress themselves.

They encourage older children to use a knife and fork and patiently model how to do this. They develop children's perseverance skills, providing encouragement and praise for children who 'have a go'. This gives children the skills they will need when moving on to school.

The nursery cook provides a good range of healthy, homemade meals and snacks. The manager asks for input from parents about the foods that children like. She refreshes the menu regularly to ensure that children eat a wide range of foods.

However, staff miss opportunities to teach children about the benefits of these healthy meals. This means that children are not learning about the importance of eating a nutritionally balanced diet.Staff adapt routines and activities to suit the needs of each child.

They are flexible with settling-in processes. They understand that some children take longer than others to separate from their parents. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) well.

They work closely as a team to create individualised support plans for children. They trial support strategies and regularly review how they are working. They refer to external agencies and professionals for further support when needed.

This helps children with SEND to make good progress in their learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders provide frequent refresher activities to ensure that all staff have a sound understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities.

They provide safeguarding surveys to identify gaps in staff knowledge and quickly address them. Staff know what action to take if concerned about a child's welfare. Staff carry out frequent risk assessments to ensure that the environment is safe and suitable for children to use.

The manager carries out safer recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children. Staff complete induction processes to ensure that they have all the information they need to keep children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support all staff to have a sharper focus on what they intend children to learn so that their teaching is consistently targeted to support children's in-depth learning help staff to provide clear and consistent messages about healthy eating to give children the knowledge they need to make healthy food choices.