Smilers Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled in this nursery. They form close bonds with their key person and enjoy their time at the nursery. Children are kind and respectful to their peers.

For example, children take turns to select nursery rhymes from a box and sit quietly while listening to others. Children follow instructions and routines of the day very well. This is supported by staff who are good role models and praise positive behaviour.

Children enjoy role play activities outside. For example, they play pretend traffic jams with bicycles and experiment with the meaning of traffic signals. This helps children to understand ...the world around them.

Staff introduce new ideas within play to extend children's learning. For instance, children make leaf cupcakes in the mud kitchen outside. Staff introduce utensils for the children to mix the cupcakes and encourage them to count.

Children enjoy taking part in messy play with paints and play dough. Children make pretend pancakes with the dough and use their imaginations as they decide what toppings they would like on their pancake. They develop their sensory skills by touching and smelling the materials.

Younger children explore the consistency of paints and make marks on paper with their fingers. This supports children to develop their small-muscle control.

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

Staff have a good understanding of each child's individual needs, including information about their home lives.

The staff provide bags of resources for children to take home to use, which supports their learning. Staff are attentive to medical needs and work with parents to ensure they can meet these daily.The leadership team work closely with the local community.

This includes local schools, to support transition from nursery to the next stage of their education. The nursery staff help children learn about moving to school through discussions and role play. Children have opportunities to play dressing up with school uniform and enjoy playing teachers.

Staff encourage children to problem-solve independently through play. For example, babies push different shapes into puzzle slots and continue this until they are successful. Staff observe the children and intervene to extend children's skills.

Older children take bicycles and scooters out of the shed independently, carefully exploring the shape and size of each item.Parents are very complimentary of the nursery. They receive regular information about their child's day.

This includes information about eating and sleeping routines. Parents express they have felt supported through the COVID-19 pandemic, which helps to provide consistency of care.Older children are supported to be independent.

Staff encourage children to wash their hands and eat with cutlery during mealtimes. However, at times, younger children are not always encouraged to take part in self-care routines independently.The leadership team is alert to any children who may have special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They make appropriate referrals and contact professionals for additional support. Staff identify resources that may support children through play. They are keen to embed this into their curriculum.

Staff provide opportunities to discuss healthy eating with children. They talk about fruit and vegetables and the importance of a healthy diet. Children are provided with nutritious meals and snacks.

Staff share information with parents about healthy eating. This helps to provide consistency of healthy lifestyles within the nursery and at home.Staff are aware of children's next steps and what they want children to achieve.

However, staff do not consistently identify how they can build on what children can already do through adult-led activities. Therefore, children are not always provided with opportunities to develop their skills even further.Children develop physical skills both indoors and outdoors.

Staff and children sing nursery rhymes and move their bodies creatively to each song. For example, children sit in pairs and sing 'Row, Row, Row Your Boat', pretending they are boats on big waves, moving side to side. This helps teach children how they can move their bodies.

The leaders provide effective supervision for staff. Staff can access a variety of training. They feel supported within the nursery by leaders and are provided with opportunities to contribute to the curriculum.

Leaders value staff well-being and have procedures in place to support this.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff are confident in their role to safeguard children and this is embedded across the nursery.

They can identify the signs and indicators of abuse and understand the importance of raising concerns. For example, they can identify what the signs and indicators of radicalisation are and what behaviours may provide concern. Staff are confident in how they would act should they have a concern about a colleague.

The designated safeguarding leads understand their role in safeguarding children. They have had specific training around managing their role and responsibilities.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: build on opportunities for younger children to develop independence skills from the earliest stage of their time at nursery help staff to further refine the focus of adult-led experiences to build on what children already know and can do.