St Bertha Daycare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children happily enter the nursery. They settle quickly and receive positive interactions from thoughtful staff.

Children show excitement as they join their peers. They greet each other with hugs. Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning.

They are polite, well mannered and very sociable. Managers are committed to providing high-quality learning opportunities for children. There are plenty of opportunities that foster children's curiosity, language skills and mental well-being.

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children learn how to cooperatively take turns, share resources and a...re considerate of one another. They have good levels of concentration and show perseverance with tricky tasks.

Children's personal and emotional development is carefully considered. For example, staff model good language to develop an understanding of feelings and emotions. They say, 'I am very proud of you' and 'I can see you tried really hard during that activity', when children make dough independently.

Children show delight in positive praise.

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

Leaders provide good educational programmes for children. They regularly review staff practice through peer observations.

Staff feel valued and say that leaders are considerate of their workload. They are offered lots of opportunity to develop their skills through external training.Skilled staff support children's individual needs through an exciting curriculum.

This prepares children well for future success. Staff understand what children want to learn. They ask questions to understand what children want to gain from their activities.

This ensures that children's thoughts and feelings are valued. However, on occasion, staff do not probe further into children's understanding to develop their thinking skills. This does not challenge children's learning to the highest level.

Children engage in group activities. Staff encourage them to look after their teeth. They practise brushing daily during circle time and join in physical exercise classes to embed the importance of healthy bodies and healthy minds.

When children feel their hearts beat faster, they comment that they feel 'good'.The nursery promotes an effective healthy food policy and offers advice and support to parents on how to promote good habits with food. Children eat nutritious meals; some children enjoy serving food to their friends.

However, children wait too long after sitting down to eat their meal. This does not always offer the opportunity for all children to practise self-service.A large majority of children who attend the setting speak English as an additional language.

Children are developing spoken English very well and communicate with peers and adults. Leaders have ensured that these children have access to multicultural stories, games and role-play resources. They have also recruited staff who speak their mother tongue.

This helps children to feel they have a sense of belonging.Children develop good mathematical skills and learn to count to 10 in English, Romanian and Spanish. They build on language related to size and shape through play, and investigate the properties of art resources they have chosen.

Children explore colour mixing and are encouraged to identify the colours they create. Staff skilfully engage children in learning about primary and secondary colours.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well.

Staff are aware of what they need to do to ensure that gaps are narrowed. Children with identified learning needs have plans in place to support them. The nursery seeks ongoing support from the local authority.

Staff receive adequate training around SEND.Partnerships with parents are central to the nursery's practice. Staff regularly communicate with parents.

Parents feel the nursery is 'nothing but professional, supportive and reassuring'. They would recommend the nursery to others.Overall, children of all ages communicate well.

Children show delight in communicating with each other. For example, during play, they talk about what animals would be found on a farm and what they are going to be doing at the weekend. They link new knowledge about festivals to celebrations they remember celebrating last year.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Safeguarding at this setting is robust. The nursery has clear policies and effective procedures in place to ensure that children are kept safe.

Staff understand their duty and are clear about what they need to do if they are concerned about the safety or welfare of a child. Staff have secure knowledge in reporting concerns about a member of staff. Managers ensure that all staff have regular and up-to-date training in safeguarding and child protection.

Managers have effective systems in place to check the ongoing suitability of staff working with children. The nursery is safe and secure.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review ways to ensure children are not waiting for long periods, in particular during mealtimes continue to support staff's interactions with children to consistently challenge higher levels of thinking in children.