Once Upon a Time Day Nurseries

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff warmly greet children who arrive happily. Staff turnover is low, which helps all staff to know children well.

This helps children to feel safe and secure and enables them to fully participate in the wide range of learning activities that staff provide for them. Children express their joy when staff promptly respond to their requests for a story to be read to them. They snuggle into the laps of staff to listen and repeat lines from their favourite books.

Staff read to children with expression and introduce children to new language and ideas as they read. All children make progress in their ability to communicate t...heir needs. Staff place an emphasis on helping children to express their feelings.

Children demonstrate empathy towards their peers and concern when they become upset. Staff encourage children to manage their own conflicts and take turns over toys. Children behave well.

They eagerly dress up as superheroes, developing their imaginations and self-confidence through their play. Staff support children to develop their natural curiosity about the world. They understand the importance of adapting routines to allow children new experiences, such as a sudden snow flurry.

Children squeal with delight as they chase each other in the garden, their faces flushed from the exercise.

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

Staff plan an ambitious curriculum for children that includes activities centred around a book of the week. Key persons include the priorities for individual children's learning into this programme, as well as recommendations from external professionals, such as speech and language therapists.

Leaders monitor children's development closely to ensure that all children make progress. The nursery provides an inclusive environment where all families and children are warmly welcomed.Staff skilfully support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Knowledgeable staff work together to identify emerging gaps in children's development quickly. They implement personalised programmes to help address children's additional needs. Leaders work closely with staff, external professionals and parents to successfully improve children's outcomes.

They use additional funding effectively to enhance children's individual support. For example, leaders provide targeted training for staff and resources to further support children.Children develop their understanding of size, weight and measure, such as when staff encourage them to access tape measures and weighing scales in their play.

Staff competently comment on size when playing alongside children and during storytelling sessions. Children develop their early literacy skills. However, the curriculum for helping children to learn about people and communities beyond their own is less well developed.

Parent partnership is a key strength of the nursery. Staff keep parents fully informed about their child's progress and next steps in learning. They regularly invite parents into the nursery for activity sessions.

Staff provide opportunities for children to complete activities at home linked to the book of the week. This helps children to consolidate their learning and provides them with a consistent learning experience between home and nursery. Parents report how they enjoyed the activity sessions and seeing how their children interact with others in the nursery.

They describe how the sessions helped younger siblings to settle when they later joined the nursery.Children benefit from nutritious meals cooked on the premises. Staff implement effective systems to ensure that children are not exposed to foods to which they may be allergic.

The nursery has fully implemented the latest guidance to minimise the risk of choking.Children learn to manage their self-care needs. Staff teach children how to put on their own coats and change shoes in preparation for outdoor play.

This prepares them well for the next stage in their learning, such as starting school. Staff eat with children to model healthy eating habits and the use of cutlery. Children demonstrate good social skills at mealtimes.

Children receive support from staff to learn about healthy lifestyles. However, opportunities for them to learn about looking after their teeth are limited. As a result, children do not receive sufficient support to develop their understanding of this important aspect of their self-care.

Staff receive effective supervision and coaching to help them to develop their practice. They regularly undertake relevant training. Staff comment that leaders give their well-being good consideration.

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: consider how to develop the curriculum to give children further opportunities to explore similarities and differences between people and communities develop programmes that promote children's oral health further.