Springfields Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children separate happily from their parents and quickly settle into the routines of the nursery.

They form emotional bonds with their key person and will actively seek them out for reassurance if they feel upset or tired. Children's behaviour is good. They learn to share, take turns and use their manners, with gentle reminders from the friendly staff.

Children receive praise and encouragement for their achievements, which helps to boost their self-esteem and confidence.All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. They enjoy a good b...alance of enjoyable adult-led and child-initiated play experiences.

Children become deeply engaged in their play and make independent choices about what they would like to do.Children have daily opportunities to play and exercise in the fresh air and develop good physical skills. They have lots of fun as they ride on wheeled toys with balance and coordination.

They learn to navigate the space available and know to take care not to bump into others. Babies practise their emerging walking skills using walkers and pull themselves up to standing at low-level furniture.Children learn about the world around them and the changing seasons.

They enjoy going on walks in the village and visit the local church. Children are supported to develop an awareness of the diverse world they live in. They learn about different cultures and festivals that are celebrated during the year, such as Chinese New Year and Diwali.

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

The newly appointed manager has worked hard with staff to address the actions raised at the last inspection. She is passionate about her role and strives for continuous improvement. The manager regularly liaises with the local authority early years adviser to identify areas for further improvement.

She has successfully introduced a new approach to planning, to help staff plan a curriculum that closely follows children's interests and what they need to learn next.Parent partnerships are good. The manager and staff communicate daily with parents, both verbally and through an online learning journey, to ensure that parents are involved in their children's care and learning.

Feedback from parents is complimentary.Staff say they are happy in their roles and feel supported and valued by the manager. They have regular staff meetings and benefit from supervisions, which focus on staff well-being.

However, supervisions are not focused enough on staff's continuous development. For example, the manager does not set measurable and specific targets or identify training and coaching that staff may need to raise the quality of their practice to an even higher level.The manager ensures that children receive any additional funding they are entitled to.

However, the owner and manager do not always consider how funding, such as pupil premium, can be best spent to support children's individual learning needs. This means that the impact additional funding has on helping to close any gaps in children's learning is not routinely checked, to ensure funding has had a positive impact.Children's communication and language skills are supported well.

Staff's interactions with children are positive. They give children time to think and respond to questions, narrate their play and introduce new words to support their growing vocabulary.Children enjoy taking part in activities at group circle time.

Staff encourage children to listen and respond to others and develop a positive attitude to learning. For example, older children are encouraged to put their hands up and take turns in large-group discussions.Children develop a love of books and singing.

Older children recall stories and confidently share their thoughts. Babies snuggle up to staff, look at books together and enjoy singing nursery rhymes. They join in with actions while singing 'Wind the Bobbin up'.

Children are eager to learn and show that they can follow instructions. For example, toddlers have lots of fun as they help to make dough. They use their fine motor skills and concentrate as they weigh out different ingredients using weighing scales.

This helps children to learn about mathematical concepts such as weight and measure, number recognition and counting.Children develop good independence and self-care skills. They are supported from a young age to wash their hands and faces after meals.

Older children learn to use a knife safely to cut up their fruit for snack time.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The new manager and staff team have a good understanding of their responsibilities to keep children safe.

All staff have completed safeguarding training, ensuring children's safety and protection are a priority. Staff are aware of possible signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. They are mindful of safeguarding concerns, such as the 'Prevent' duty.

The manager has a safe recruitment procedure in place to check the suitability of adults working with children. Staff conduct daily risk assessments of all areas used by the children, to ensure their safety.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the structure for staff supervisions to focus more sharply on providing clear targets for professional development, to help raise the quality of practice to the highest level nuse additional funding that children receive more effectively, to support children's individual needs and development directly and help them make the best possible progress.