Smartie Pants Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children benefit from the welcoming and friendly atmosphere in the nursery.

They show positive relationships with staff and often go to them for comforting cuddles. Children use good manners and are polite. Younger children receive gentle reminders to say please when they ask for more milk at snack time.

Children sing songs before they receive their snack to remind them to say please and thank you. Children are keen to explore and investigate the vast range of inviting and attractively displayed toys and equipment. Younger children develop their interest in books.

When asked, they point to different images and... characters on the pages. Younger children giggle and laugh when they play physical games with their peers, chasing them. They are creative when they use teapots and cups to pretend to make drinks for themselves and staff.

Older children solve problems in their play. They work together as a team to find the correct pieces to fit into puzzles. Older children work out how to flatten a piece of dough and decide to sit on it.

Staff know the children well and support their pretend play. For example, when older children show an interest in dinosaurs, staff play alongside them and use different tones in their voice to bring the dinosaurs to life.

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

The manager and staff have a curriculum in place to support children to progress in their development.

This includes encouraging them to feel emotionally secure when they first start attending. For example, the same member of staff greets children when they arrive. They spend time with the children and provide toys that promote their interest.

Parents say that their children settle quickly.Staff actively promote positive behaviour. For example, they support younger children to understand what words to use when they want to take turns to play with a toy.

This helps to give them the confidence to communicate their needs.The manager supports staff's practice through, for example, supervision and staff meetings. Staff attend training courses to refresh their knowledge of safeguarding.

This helps them to keep children safe. However, sometimes professional development does not support staff to extend their teaching skills. For example, during some planned activities, staff do not fully manage to maintain children's engagement and focus.

Staff encourage children to learn skills for the future, such as to complete tasks by themselves. For example, younger children use knives safely to cut up bananas at snack time. Older children use knives safely to spread butter on their crackers.

Staff provide younger children with a step, so they can reach the sink to wash their hands. This helps to promote good hand hygiene routines.Overall staff support children's communication and language skills well.

For example, when staff talk to younger children, they wait for them to respond before communicating again. This helps them to learn how to take turns in conversations. However, children who speak English as an additional language are not supported as effectively.

Staff do not provide children's home language at nursery to support their language development.Staff provide opportunities for children to have a sense of responsibility to help increase their self-esteem. Older children help staff to carry boxes of toys from one area to another.

They hand out plates to their friends at snack time. Younger children are asked to help wipe tables clean before they sit down to eat.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well by the manager and staff.

Referrals to other professionals are made to support children's individual needs. Staff have targets in place to help children to progress. For example, to encourage them to develop their social skills.

Staff support children with their self-chosen play experiences. For example, when younger children play with dough, they are encouraged to develop the muscles in their hands. Staff show younger children how to roll, squeeze and push objects into the dough.

Children copy and learn how the dough can be used in different ways.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff place a high priority on children's safety.

They understand the signs and symptoms that may suggest a child is at risk of harm, abuse or radicalisation. The manager works closely with safeguarding agencies to promote children's safety. She follows a thorough recruitment procedure when she employs new staff.

The manager checks staff's ongoing suitability to ensure they are suitable to work with children. The manager and staff have procedures in place to follow in the event of a critical incident in or around the nursery. They understand the importance to keep children safe.

Staff develop their knowledge of how to promote children's safety when they sleep. For example, they ensure that they lay on a flat surface.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen staff's professional development to help engage and maintain children's attention and focus during planned group times support staff to develop their understanding of how to support language development for children who speak English as an additional language.