Rose Cottage Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy, confident and enjoy the time they spend in this warm, welcoming and friendly nursery. They benefit from a wide range of good-quality, age-appropriate toys and resources. The accessible environment encourages children's independence and free choice.

Children concentrate on their chosen activities and have a positive attitude towards their learning. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They talk boldly to visitors and share toys with them.

Children describe what they like doing at the nursery and where they have been. For example, they share their experiences with confidence of riding ...on a bus to visit a local greengrocer. They talk excitedly about the vegetables they purchased and how they are going to make soup for their friends.

Staff have high expectations of children. They present themselves as positive role models and teach children how to share and take turns. Gentle and consistent reminders help children to understand what is expected of them.

For example, children are reminded of the 'rainbow rules', such as 'walking feet' and 'kind hands'. These strategies support children's good behaviour.

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

Overall, staff support children's development well.

They demonstrate a good understanding of how children learn through play. Staff complete observations and use this information to provide activities that reflect children's individual interests. However, some staff do not always complete assessments in a timely manner, which would promote even better progress.

Children eagerly participate in the experiences provided. However, not all staff routinely maximise opportunities to further challenge and extend children's learning. For example, staff working with toddlers do not always interact with children as effectively as they could, ask questions that encourage children's thinking skills or challenge children to excel in their progress.

Overall, children's good health is promoted well. Children have opportunities throughout the day to rest or sleep and to play outdoors in the fresh air. They eat nutritious meals, and good attention is paid to meeting their dietary requirements.

However, staff do not implement hygiene policies consistently, such as supporting children to wash their hands before eating.Children have excellent opportunities to learn about the wider world around them through the many enrichment activities provided. They take trips on public transport, visit local farms to learn where milk comes from, and participate in enjoyable and interactive French lessons.

Children regularly contribute to charity organisations, developing an awareness of those less fortunate than themselves.Staff pay considerable attention to supporting children's communication and language skills. They have attended specialist training to enhance the delivery of listening, attention and speaking activities.

Exciting initiatives, such as the creation of nursery-rhyme cards and compact discs for children to share at home with their families, have had a positive impact on children's communication levels.Staff read to children with enthusiasm. There is an abundance of books for children to enjoy.

They frequently take home library bags to share stories with their families. Pre-school children visit the local library and secure their own individual memberships. These activities create a love of literacy from a very young age and children are able to become immersed in stories, songs and rhymes.

The passionate and dedicated manager leads an experienced and well-qualified staff team. They have regular meetings to evaluate the effectiveness of the nursery and continuously reflect on the experiences they provide for children. Good use of training, coaching and supervision meetings to develop the knowledge and experience of staff, helps to improve practice and outcomes for children.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff communicate daily with parents and share information about children's learning and development. Parents' comments are overwhelmingly positive.

They fondly describe the friendly and approachable staff team and how much their children enjoy attending.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of their responsibility to safeguard children.

There are designated officers to support them in the event any concerns about a child's welfare are identified. Appropriate training is provided for staff to help ensure that they fully understand their role in protecting children from harm. In addition, staff are able to describe confidently what action they would take if they had concerns about a colleague's practice.

Detailed risk assessments, particularly for outings and trips into the local community, are completed vigilantly. Staff teach children well about road safety, stranger danger and other potential hazards when visiting places of local interest.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to develop the assessment arrangements so that these are completed in a timely manner to aid children's continued progress support staff working with toddlers to develop their teaching skills further, so that they consistently engage and challenge children in their learning nensure that staff constantly implement robust hygiene procedures and teach children the importance of these.