North Street Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and display good attitudes to learning.

Staff provide children with a well-balanced curriculum, and children are interested and keen to get involved in the range of activities on offer. For example, babies eagerly participate in singing activities using props and actions, toddlers use real tools and enjoy woodwork and older children enjoy music and movement sessions to support their physical development. Staff get to know children well and pay attention to children's individual interests to ensure that they are reflected in what they offer.

All children make good progress in their learning and develo...pment, including children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children develop good independence skills and manage their self-care well. For example, they put on their own shoes, serve their own meals and follow good bathroom routines.

Children get on well with others, make friends and play with others positively. Children display good manners. For instance, they say 'please' and 'thank you' when they ask for things.

Parents speak highly of the staff and are positive about the education and care their children receive. Key persons work hard to get to know children's families, which helps staff share information, build bonds and offer a continuity of care to children. Staff support parents well in extending their children's learning at home.

For example, they teach them some sign language to help them communicate with their child and work in partnership to ensure that they have a shared approach in supporting children to manage their emotions.

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

The newly established leadership team has a good understanding of how to drive improvement. Leaders and staff have worked hard since the last inspection to address the weaknesses identified.

Staff supervision has been prioritised, and staff comment on the benefits of this on their teaching practice. There is a clear vision for continuous improvement, and staff and leaders are working together to achieve the same outcomes.Staff identify what children know and can do and plan effectively for what each child needs to learn next.

They recognise any possible learning needs and use this information to inform the planning of the curriculum. Staff support children with SEND well and ensure that they receive the medical support they require while enabling inclusive access to what is on offer.There is a strong focus on improving children's communication skills throughout the nursery.

Overall, staff support children's language skills well. They use visuals to help children follow routines. They sing various songs and rhymes and introduce new words during play.

Staff provide children with a running commentary as they play and learn, and they use a range of questioning.However, at times, this can be too much and can be delivered in quick succession, which hampers children's ability to take in the language or have sufficient time to respond.Staff assess risks effectively and teach children how to keep themselves safe.

For example, staff plan risky play activities for children, such as hammering nails into wood, and they teach children how to balance as they walk across wobbly planks of wood. This enables children to take risk under the supervision of staff.Overall, children are developing a good range of early reading and writing skills.

For example, they learn to recognise letters of their name in the environment, such as on their pegs, and have good opportunities to make marks in a variety of ways. Children listen to core stories that staff have chosen linked to children's interests, and staff incorporate opportunities for storytelling into the daily routine. However, staff have not considered how the literacy curriculum can be made more challenging, particularly for the oldest children.

They do not always maximise the resources and opportunities on offer to ensure that children make the best possible progress in their literacy development.Staff ensure that children have regular time outdoors. Leaders and staff regularly consider ways they can enhance children's outdoor learning opportunities within the constraints of the building.

For example, babies go on daily outings in the local area to develop their understanding of nature and to enhance their physical skills, while older children play on the roof terrace with bubbles and engage in sensory play in the sand kitchen.Staff have a good awareness of child protection. Policies and procedures for safeguarding are well understood and implemented by staff.

Staff know how to spot signs that may indicate a child is at risk of harm and how they should respond if they are concerned about the welfare of a child.Leaders and staff network with other early years professionals to enhance their professional development. For example, staff visit other settings to share good practice and work well with other agencies involved with individual children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to develop staff skills in enhancing children's communication and language development, with particular regard to supporting staff to understand the importance of allowing children time to process information and think of responses to questions that staff ask them deliver a consistently high-quality and challenging curriculum for literacy, ensuring that all staff make better use of resources to help children build on what they remember from their previous learning and maximise opportunities for children to practise their emerging literacy skills.