Roots and Shoots Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and content in this nursery. They receive a warm welcome from familiar staff and settle quickly to play with their friends.

Children select from a range of resources and have many opportunities to lead their own play and learning. Children build close relationships with staff, who are kind, nurturing and know them well. They happily go to them for cuddles and comfort, which they receive in abundance.

This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Children behave very well. They respond to staff's gentle guidance to be kind and take turns.

Children routinely use good manners, sayi...ng 'please' and 'thank you', particularly at lunchtime. Staff specifically plan the nursery play environments to provide all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, with opportunities to develop their skills and understanding. Children confidently select from a stimulating array of equipment and make plans with their friends about what they will build.

For example, children use their imaginations and critical-thinking skills to build structures which represent other items, such as a tower and a bridge. They work cooperatively together and are keen to offer their suggestions. Children are eager to be involved and are keen learners.

They develop the skills and understanding they need to prepare them for their next stages in learning.

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

The provider, who is also the nursery manager, has designed a well-thought-out curriculum to ensure that all children have a variety of experiences and activities which support them to develop and build on what they already know. However, when children first start, staff do not make the most use of the opportunity to gather information from parents about what children know and can do, to enable them to focus their plans for the learning they need at the very beginning.

Staff promote communication and language well. Babies snuggle in with staff to hear stories and look at books together. They point out the pictures of what they know in response to staff's questions.

All children develop an increasingly broad vocabulary. This is because staff use their skills to model language and include new words during play. When children show some delay in their communication, staff use assessment tools to help identify areas in need of support.

However, this is not yet extended to all children to enable staff to focus more precisely to support children's communication development to progress as rapidly as possible.Staff model play and help children to develop their skills well. For example, staff and children model dough as they sing a song together.

They follow the words in the song for their actions, such as 'roll', 'poke' and 'pat'. Children have lots of fun and giggle together with staff when their dough droops and falls to the floor.Toddlers have great fun and are industrious when they engage in play at the 'play dough station' that is set out for them.

They use a range of skills to roll, measure and cut their dough. They select their own tools and decide how they want to play with it. Children are proud to show their creations to staff, who readily give praise for their achievements.

The manager ensures that staff receive the support they need through regular discussions, meetings and training. Staff have abundant opportunities to attend a range of training to help develop their own skills and understanding. The manager has developed a reflective culture in the nursery.

All staff participate in the continual development of the nursery and contribute to enhancing the provision for children.Children become increasingly independent and learn to carry out tasks for themselves. Older children manage their own personal care needs.

They follow staff's clear instructions, for example to put on their coats and put their shoes on the right feet.Parents say that their children are happy in the nursery. They report on how friendly and approachable the staff are.

Parents say their children are making good progress. They are happy with the information they receive, verbally from staff and in the information they access online, about their child's learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The provider and staff understand their responsibilities to keep children safe and protected from harm. All staff can identify signs and symptoms that indicate a child may be at risk of abuse. They know the local procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child's welfare.

They understand the whistle-blowing procedures for if they have concerns about the conduct of a colleague. This includes how to escalate their concerns if necessary. Recruitment procedures are robust.

This includes the background checks that must be carried out to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Staff make routine checks in the nursery to ensure that it is safe for children to attend.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: make best use of the opportunity to gather information from parents about what their children know and can do, to help focus the plans for their learning at the very beginning nextend the use of assessment tools that help to focus the support for children's communication development more precisely so that they make even more rapid progress.