Queensway Children’s Centre Daycare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff have lovely relationships with the children in their care, who they know individually very well. Staff are respectful and work together well. There is strong support for children's personal development.

For example, children are encouraged to learn how to care for themselves and others as they carefully change the nappies on baby dolls. Staff have high expectations of all children. Behaviour is good.

Children take turns and play cooperatively together.Children are happy, settled and emotionally secure. They benefit from a wide range of interesting activities.

For example, children enjoy singing, sharing ...stories and playing with sand and water. Staff support children's learning well. However, there is scope for children to be given more time to formulate their ideas.

There is good support for children's physical development. Children build their strength as they stir the dough they have made. They thread cereal hoops on to straws to develop their coordination.

Children improve their balance on equipment in the nursery's secure garden. Staff are well qualified. However, there is potential for training to be more focused, to improve staff's knowledge even further.

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

Staff follow children's interests well. For example, when children show an interest in birds, staff make bird feeders with them. They provide photographs of birds to inspire children as they paint.

When children find a small spider in the playroom, staff use this opportunity to talk with the children about insects and encourage them to go into the garden to release it carefully.There is good support for children's learning. Staff model how to hold chopsticks, for example, and how to make dough.

Children play imaginatively with toy trains and make marks with paint and pencils. They are growing in confidence and engaged in their play. They are curious to learn new things and willing to have a try.

Staff support children to learn how to keep themselves healthy and safe. There are well-established hygiene routines, and children benefit from healthy snacks and access to daily fresh air and exercise. There is robust support for children's growing independence.

For example, at snack time, children are encouraged to butter their own crackers and pour their own drinks.Overall, there is good support for communication and language. Children hear lots of language and are introduced to new words.

For example, when playing and sharing stories about doctors, staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'stethoscope' and 'thermometer'. They employ other strategies to support children's developing speech, such as repeating back, maintaining eye contact and providing a running commentary on children's play. Staff, however, do not always leave enough time for children to respond when questioned.

Promotion of mathematics is woven well through daily activities. For example, staff help children count the number of blocks and discuss what colour they are. They encourage children to fill up jugs at the water table and discuss when they are full.

Children learn about the wider world through books shared with staff and observations within the environment. For example, staff talk about the washing blowing in the wind and discuss with the children the different types of animals in pictures. They talk to children about the nursery's pet fish as they study it together.

Children show great interest in how it looks and moves.There are strong partnerships with parents and other professionals involved in supporting children at the nursery. The manager and staff have established links with local schools.

This helps to provide effective support to children when they move to the next stage of their learning. Managers meet with staff to support their continuous professional development. The well-qualified staff team is kept up to date through training.

There is, however, scope for a sharper focus on training to develop the quality of teaching to the highest standard.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The nursery's environment is safe and secure, and there are robust procedures in place to support good practice.

Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe. For example, they discuss the dangers of hot water as children pretend to make cups of tea for staff and their friends. The manager and staff have a good understanding of their responsibilities around safeguarding.

They stay up to date with procedures to keep children safe. The manager and staff know how to identify any concerns with children or staff, what procedures to take and who to contact.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more time for children to formulate their ideas and respond when questioned focus the programme of continuous professional support for staff to improve knowledge even further.

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