St Mary’s Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and engaged in this warm and welcoming nursery.

Babies and children make a smooth start to their learning experiences and form strong bonds with the staff who care for them. Staff work closely with parents and carers to thoroughly understand children's interests, needs and routines. They use the information well, overall, to plan carefully for children's progress in all aspects of their learning and development.

Children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning, including starting school. Children feel safe and well cared for. They behave well.

Children learn to follow instruct...ions for activities, such as tidying up, washing their hands and playing games. They learn to be polite and considerate towards their friends and those who care for them. Staff help children to make considered decisions about their play and learning and to challenge themselves.

For example, staff encourage children in their jumping and balancing activities to develop their concentration and physical skills. The manager and her staff have high overall expectations for every child to gain the most from their time in the nursery. During the COVID-19 pandemic, parents do not enter the classrooms but wait at the door.

Staff ensure they maintain frequent, detailed communication to sustain children's learning and progress throughout this time.

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

Staff promote children's communication skills well, overall, and speak gently and clearly to them. They introduce babies and children to an increasingly wide vocabulary, from the sounds that animals make, to terms such as 'attract' and 'repel' as they play with magnets.

However, staff do not consistently extend children's vocabulary. For example, they do not always give children time to answer questions that they are asked or expect them to fully explain their understanding.The well-qualified and experienced manager sets a clear direction for the nursery's development through well-researched initiatives.

She is well supported by senior staff and the parent company. The manager supports staff to strive for higher qualifications and to share the outcomes of training opportunities. This has a positive impact on enriching the curriculum for children and assessment procedures.

Children are strongly supported to develop a love of reading. Staff think carefully about how they can introduce children to a wide range of songs, rhymes and stories that build on their previous learning and experiences. Staff read stories well.

They engage children with puppets, role-play themes, such as bear hunts, and help them to create their own stories. Staff also record stories for children to watch and enjoy with their families at home. Parents particularly appreciated these events during the COVID-19 local restrictions.

Children learn the importance of good hygiene and self-care. For example, they explore the importance of dental care when they listen to stories and play with large toothbrushes and model teeth and gums. Staff teach children to wash their hands thoroughly before sitting down to their well-prepared and nutritious meals.

Staff help children to progressively build on their physical skills. Babies learn to build their confidence in rolling, crawling and walking. Staff provide attractive resources inside and out for babies to reach out for and pull themselves up on.

Older children develop their own obstacle courses and instruct each other to hop, spin and jump.Children systematically develop their small-muscle skills. For example, they develop arm and hand coordination through squashing, squeezing and moulding the colourful scented play dough they make.

They build on this through making marks in their sand play or using clipboards and notebooks to 'write' menus in the home corner or building plans in their construction play. This helps to prepare them for future writing skills.Staff help children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to manage their emotions.

Children behave very well. Staff strongly support them to be polite and to share and take turns.Parents are proud to send their children to the nursery.

They particularly appreciate the warm and friendly nature of the manager and her staff. They welcome the very regular communication they receive about their children's progress and the opportunities to support learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff ensure that children are safe at the nursery. The manager and senior leaders make sure that staff's knowledge of safeguarding is robust and up to date. Staff have a secure understanding of the possible signs that a child may be at risk of harm and know what to do if they have concerns.

They also know how to make a safeguarding referral themselves, and what to do if they are concerned about the conduct of a colleague. The premises are clean, secure and free from hazards.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus staff development on further extending children's vocabulary and language skills to raise them to an even higher level.