Sandhills Day Nursery Wolverhampton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and content in the nursery. They build close relationships with staff, who know them well and are kind and nurturing towards them. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care.

The nursery play environments are spacious, inviting, and well arranged by staff to ensure they meet the needs and interests of the children attending. As a result, children become confident in accessing the resources and equipment and making choices about what they play with and how they play. For example, babies select from a range of musical instruments.

Staff demonstrate how to make sounds with the instruments..., such as by shaking, and children copy their actions. Staff include new words for babies to hear and understand their meaning.Children behave well.

This is because staff model respectful behaviours with children and with each other. Staff use gentle reminders which help children to know how to be kind to their peers. The oldest children learn how to resolve minor disputes for themselves.

All children routinely use good manners, saying please and thank you. They receive praise and acknowledgement for their positive behaviour. Children gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for their next stages of learning.

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

The nursery curriculum is well designed to sequence the learning that children need to build on what they already know and can do. Staff gather useful information from parents when children first start, to help them to know what children are ready to learn next. That said, teaching does not yet consistently focus on the individual learning for children, to help them to make progress more rapidly.

Communication and language is promoted well. Staff speak clearly and use language appropriately to help all children, including those with special educational needs and or/disabilities, to understand and build further on their vocabulary. Staff model conversation consistently with all children and give ample time for children to respond.

Staff enthusiastically use songs, rhymes and stories to support children to engage and use their voices. They use the beat of a drum to help children slow down their speech when they practise saying some more difficult words.Children have lots of fun outdoors.

They practise their skills to balance, using a range of wheeled toys. Others work together to design ramps for their jugs of water to flow down. Children show positive attitudes to learning.

They keep trying until finally the water flows from one pipe to the other. Children take turns to pour more water to continue their game.Children are provided with opportunities to lead their play and learning.

Staff provide them with natural materials to explore, such as sand, grass cuttings and bark chips. Pre-school children talk about these textures and decide what they would like to add more of. Other children add dinosaurs to the materials and make prints with their feet.

Staff talk with children about how the dinosaurs may differ from each other. Children say that some have spikes, and some have longer tails.Developing independence is high priority in the nursery.

Children begin to learn how to complete tasks for themselves, during routine times in the nursery. For example, babies feed themselves and learn to use cutlery, toddlers learn to complete self-care tasks, such as wiping noses, washing hands and using the bathroom. The oldest children competently help to prepare tables for lunch and clear away afterwards.

They learn to dress themselves, including tricky zips and other fastenings.The setting provides regular opportunities for staff to reflect on their work practice and to complete the required training. However, there is scope to strengthen the support and guidance given to staff to further embed their knowledge and understanding and raise the quality of practice even higher.

Parents express that they are happy with the nursery. They especially comment on the regular and detailed information they receive about their child's learning progress and about how they can also support their child at home. Parents say their children enjoy attending and how they have built close relationships with staff.

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: nensure that staff focus the teaching more precisely on what children need to learn next to help them to make more rapid progress strengthen the support and guidance provided to staff to further embed their knowledge and understanding and keep it current.