Noah’s Ark Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff have high expectations for the children in their care.

Children feel safe and settle quickly into their play as they arrive at the nursery. They behave exceptionally well and make friends quickly. Children learn to share and show great kindness to each other.

For example, children offer help to their younger friends during activities with little or no prompting from staff. Staff provide good support for children and offer them an abundance of praise and encouragement as they achieve something for the first time, which helps to promote children's self-esteem and confidence. Staff use additional funding constructiv...ely and measure its impact on those children who require it effectively.

Children join in activities with excitement, for example when they move from making pasta necklaces to sticking pasta onto paper to make pictures of gingerbread houses. Staff follow children's interests well, later reading the story of the 'gingerbread man' after their earlier play and discussions. Children show high levels of self-control and confidence as they sit and listen, enthralled in the story.

They know to wait patiently for their friends to finish what they are saying before they speak, demonstrating excellent social skills from a young age. Staff introduce new words as they talk to children about what they are doing. For example, when children say they have drawn a snake, staff ask if it is 'curly' and 'wiggly'.

This helps to expand children's vocabulary.

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

The key-person system is strong. Staff take time to complete home visits to gather information about children's routines.

This helps staff to support children as they settle into the nursery. Staff request information from parents about what their child knows and can do before they start at nursery. However, staff do not remind parents to return this information promptly to enable them to put the details onto their new online system and support the future planning of activities.

Staff have a good understanding of how children learn. They plan an interesting range of activities and follow children's interests well. For instance, when children talk about gingerbread houses when they make pasta necklaces, staff suggest they make pictures of them with pasta.

This helps to support children's interests and imaginations.Children enjoy experimenting in the world around them. They take great delight in playing in the rain and filling up containers from the outside tap.

They throw the water over powder paint on the floor to see what happens when water is added. Staff encourage them to use their feet to help mix the paint and the children watch in fascination as the colours change.Children demonstrate exceptional self-confidence, for example when they persevere with activities until they achieve their desired outcome.

They show high levels of concentration as they complete tasks. Staff's enthusiastic approach helps children to become highly engaged in what they are doing and motivated to learn. Children listen to others extremely well and share their ideas, for example when working out how they can carry a heavy container of water.

Staff work closely with other professionals and early years settings that children attend. Staff provide good support for children and their families. They encourage parents to share ongoing information about what their child has done and help them support their child's learning further at home.

Staff support children's growing independence well, for example encouraging them to select resources for themselves and make choices about what they would like to do next. Older children take responsibility in their own care needs, for example using the toilet and handwashing before snacks with gentle reminders from staff. However, on occasions, staff do not have a consistent approach in supporting children's independence and personal hygiene practices, such as wiping their own nose and washing their hands.

The manager and staff work well as a team. The manager has a good overview of the children, teaching practices of the staff and the planned improvements to the nursery in the future. Regular supervision meetings are completed for staff and their training needs are identified.

Staff speak about how useful recent training on total communication has been and the positive impact it has had on helping young children to communicate better. Children make good progress in their learning and are prepared well for their eventual move to school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and the provider carry out and review staff's suitability checks regularly. New members of staff have a detailed induction at the beginning of their employment to help them become familiar with the procedures. This helps to keep children safe.

All staff are very clear about the signs that may alert them to any child protection matters and the process to follow should they have any concerns about a child's welfare. Staff monitor children's attendance carefully to help safeguard children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nuse a consistent approach to help build on children's independence and personal hygiene skills even further nexplore ways to gain more information about what children already know and can do before they start, to enable planned activities to meet children's needs more effectively from the start.

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