Playhub Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Staff have a caring attitude and develop strong relationships with children. Staff implement robust procedures to help children who are new to the setting become confident to explore the learning environment with ease. Children smile and show they feel happy and secure.

However, the curriculum aims are not clear and not all staff understand how to implement these to help support children's learning. Some planned activities are not targeted towards children's ages and stages of development. As such, children lose interest quickly and their engagement is not sustained.

Leaders have taken proactive steps to meet safeguarding... and welfare requirements. This helps to ensure that children are safe at the setting. Leaders and staff have improved support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

Leaders have identified gaps in some staff's teaching skills. However, they have not done enough to address these to ensure the quality of teaching is consistent across the setting. This does not ensure that all children receive high-quality interactions to support and extend their learning further.

Staff offer lots of praise throughout the day, which helps to boost children's self-esteem. They support children to become familiar with the daily routines and allow them to make decisions about what they would like to play with. This contributes successfully towards children's confidence and independence.

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

The arrangements for supervision, training and staff support are not fully embedded in practice. Leaders are yet to fully establish what the curriculum aims are and ensure that all staff fully understand and implement these effectively. Leaders have identified some areas to improve, particularly in relation to staff's interactions with children and their understanding of curriculum planning.

However, it is too early to assess the impact of any changes or measures taken to help raise the quality of education to a good standard.Staff conduct regular observations and assessments of children's learning to help them identify what children need to learn next. They work closely with outside agencies and parents to implement strategies to help children with SEND.

However, staff do not ensure that planned activities meet children's ages and stages of development. For example, staff teach shapes and name writing when children are not developmentally ready to learn these.Overall, staff are positive role models.

Staff working with the youngest children use their names, talk to them and describe what is happening. This means that children begin to learn about the routine, build relationships and settle in quickly. However, staff do not encourage young children to move around and explore their environment to help support their curiosity and further build on their gross motor skills.

Staff are quick to hold babies, which hinders babies' attempts to explore independently. Occasionally, staff teach children incorrect information, for instance when naming different animals and the sounds they make.Staff support children to develop their understanding of healthy lifestyles.

For example, children have plenty of opportunities to engage in physical play and enjoy a healthy meal while at the setting. Staff use mealtimes to foster social relations and build on children's communication and language development. For example, they engage in casual conversations with children about what they are eating and how to stay healthy.

Staff encourage children to wash their hands regularly and teach them why this is important. These opportunities contribute successfully to children's physical well-being.Staff set clear expectations for behaviour.

They teach children to be kind and remind them of the expected behaviour boundaries. For instance, when children start to climb on play equipment in an unsafe way, staff are quick to remind them to play safely and encourage them to access the garden to engage in robust physical play. Staff offer lots of encouragement throughout the day, which helps to support children's self-esteem.

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: strengthen the curriculum aims so that all staff fully understand how to help children build on existing knowledge and make secure progress in their learning and development help all staff to develop their teaching skills to ensure they maintain high-quality interactions with children to support and extend their learning further nimprove oversight of the planning and ensure learning activities are appropriate to children's ages and stages of development to help close any learning gaps swiftly.