Scallywags Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and comfortable in their surroundings. They move around their group rooms and the outside area, freely choosing where and what to play with. Children safely negotiate steps and ramps and develop their spatial awareness as they run and play outdoors.

Pre-school children ride large toy tractors and tricycles, and they line up as they make their way through the pretend car wash. Children build on their experiences from home and recall how their parents wash their cars. They use their small-muscle skills and squeeze the sponges hard and shout, 'Next one!'Children behave well and have an eagerness to learn.
...r/>They build strong relationships with each other and the staff. Toddlers snuggle close with their friends and listen to a story about farm animals. They delight in singing a familiar song about a farm.

Pre-school children play cooperatively together. They use toy frogs and see how far they can make them jump, using their fingers. Staff extend this activity and encourage children use a ruler to measure the distance.

Older toddlers relish playing with dry rice. They let the rice run through their fingers and scream as it drops onto the tray. Babies become excitable as they shake and bang musical instruments, listening to the sounds they make.

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

The managers and staff implement a curriculum that helps to prepare children for their future learning. Staff have a good understanding of how to support children's language skills, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'cocoon', and explain the meaning of words as pre-school children draw butterflies.

Younger children sing plenty of familiar songs to help them remember words, while staff working with the babies constantly talk to them so that they hear a rich selection of new words.Staff support older children to develop their physical skills. Children confidently climb and balance on equipment in the garden.

However, staff in the baby room do not always encourage the development of babies' large-muscle and physical skills. For instance, as babies start to stand and explore large soft-play objects, staff do not provide enough space or guidance so that babies can learn how to extend their physical skills further.Staff provide exciting activities for all children to play and explore.

For instance, children explore paint throughout the nursery. Younger children swirl paint with their hands and use their fingers to make marks. Pre-school children paint stones to create an 'insect'.

However, some parts of the daily routine are not organised as well as possible to fully support children's learning. For example, older children become bored as they wait for long periods to brush their teeth and have to wait for their lunch to arrive.Partnership with parents is strong.

The managers engage in regular telephone conversations with parents to ensure that parents' and children's welfare is maintained. They send home videos of activities children can do at home and photos of what children are doing. This helps parents to build close relationships with the staff and enables them to help with their children's learning at home.

The manager and staff broaden children's opportunities to understand about helping people and being kind. They encourage children to use 'kind hands and feet' as they play with their friends. The managers often take children out into the community, to further show kindness to people who help us.

These opportunities help children to understand about being kind and helpful to each other.Staff support children to develop their independence skills. For example, staff encourage children to put on their own shoes and wash their hands.

Children feed themselves and are polite. For example, they say 'please' and 'thank you' at mealtimes. This helps children's readiness for school.

The managers support staff. They meet with them individually to discuss their well-being. The managers also identify staff's training needs through discussion and by observing their practice.

Staff attend training, including, a course on promoting outside learning. This helps them to support children's learning. For example, children are supported to learn about bees and celebrate 'World Bee Day'.

They enjoy activities such as building dens in the woodland area.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The managers provide opportunities for staff to undertake regular safeguarding training to keep the children in their care safe.

Staff know what to do if they identify concerns that may indicate children are at risk, and they know the professionals they must report concerns to. Staff recruitment is robust. The managers follow effective procedures to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

This includes monitoring staff's ongoing suitability. Staff work together with the managers to carry out regular risk assessments that ensure the premises, including the outdoor area, are safe and secure for all children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop staff's knowledge of how to enhance opportunities for babies to extend their large-muscle and physical skills review some parts of the daily routines to maximise the learning for pre-school children.