Paskals Day Nursery Limited

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are greeted warmly by their key person when they arrive. This helps them to feel safe, settle quickly and happily engage in the activities provided.

Children understand the importance of good hygiene. They confidently meet their own self-care needs, such as handwashing, and independently serve their own meals, helping to clean away afterwards. Children are learning what behaviour is expected of them.

They show respect for each other. For example, children share their paintbrushes, take turns, and use 'please' and 'thank you' in their play.Children have lots of fun creating witches' potions.

They use m...athematical language to describe measurements. For example, they use words including 'one scoop', 'half a scoop', 'full' and 'empty'. Children use their imaginations, selecting ingredients and deciding what their potions will do.

Children are very animated. They demonstrate this and say, 'One potion will turn you into a lion'. They listen and join in with a popular witches story outdoors.

The nursery curriculum promotes children's experiences well in the outdoor environment. Children spend a great deal of their time at nursery here. They create sounds with musical instruments, mix and pour in the mud kitchen, and paint spiders at an easel.

Children take part in large-scale construction using wooden blocks, nuts and bolts, with the support of the staff.

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

There is a clear curriculum to support children's learning and development, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Children make good progress over time.

They participate in their learning with enthusiasm, as staff build on what they already know and can do. For example, when children are scooping out pumpkins, they talk about birds eating the seeds, then leaving it out for the animals to eat. Children describe the textures as 'hard', 'squishy', 'gooey', 'soft' and 'like string'.

Overall, staff support children's early language development well. For example, they read stories to them and sing a wide range of songs and rhymes. Occasionally, staff do not provide an environment where children are able to pay attention and listen.

For example, they have not fully considered the impact on children's ability to listen when two groups are having separate stories next to each other.Staff provide a rich range of opportunities for children to be active and develop their physical skills. Children learn how to balance as they move themselves across an obstacle course.

They begin to understand the impact of exercise on the body. For example, children feel their increased heart rate after taking part in a jumping beans activity. Children learn about the importance of oral health when they brush the teeth on the pumpkin heads.

They talk about foods that are not good for their teeth, such as sweets.Partnerships with parents are well developed. They speak highly of the staff team and value the feedback on their children's development.

Parents appreciate the learning ideas and activities that staff provide to continue learning at home, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.The key-person system is strong. Staff have good knowledge of the children they care for.

They have allocated time indoors daily with their key children. This time is used to get to know the children well and to deliver activities that will interest and support their learning and development. However, at times, this impacts on children's ability to independently choose when they can access the indoor environment.

For example, when children ask to go indoors, staff explain they will have time indoors soon with their key person.The manager leads her staff team well. Staff say they feel valued and supported in their role by the manager and other colleagues.

The manager implements effective supervision and coaching. Staff are given the skills and knowledge to carry out their roles and responsibilities, through a robust induction and mentoring programme. Any training requirements are quickly identified and put in place.

This ensures children are supported in their learning and development well, overall, by skilful and knowledgeable staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and staff understand their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe, including local and wider safeguarding issues.

There is a robust training plan in place to ensure safeguarding training is always up to date, including the 'Prevent' duty. All staff hold a paediatric first-aid certificate, so they are able to support children in the event of an accident or incident. Security procedures when entering and leaving the nursery have been strengthened to keep children safe.

A rigorous recruitment procedure ensures staff are suitable to work with children. Despite the difficulties posed by COVID-19 restrictions, staff have been proactive in maintaining contact with families and other agencies.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide a greater range of opportunties to help children develop their attention and concentration skills to a higher level plan more effectively so that children can make independent choices about where they would like to play.