St Marys Childcare Centre

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff focus on ensuring that children are happy, safe and ready to learn.

They gently reassure children who feel less confident, such as those who are new to the nursery or those who are experiencing changes at home. Children settle in very quickly and demonstrate superb levels of security, self-assurance and motivation. Staff help children to understand their emotions.

For example, children choose a picture to help them to describe how they feel each morning. Children become increasingly independent in meeting their self-care needs. However, staff do not consistently help them to strengthen their understanding of how ...to stay healthy.

Staff have high expectations of what children are capable of. They provide a wide and varied curriculum that helps children to develop new skills across all areas of learning. However, at times, staff do not support children well enough to consolidate and deepen their knowledge before moving them on to the next stage in their learning.

Children do not consistently understand and remember what has been taught during some group activities. Children's behaviour is exemplary and they show great consideration for others. For example, two-year-old children gently take the hands of their friends to encourage them to join in a dancing activity.

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

The staff team is well established, and the members of the team feel valued and supported. Their morale is high, which contributes to the positive atmosphere in the nursery. Staff are well qualified, experienced and keen to build on their knowledge.

This contributes to their, essentially, good teaching skills.Some teaching is exceptional. Staff show remarkable skills when reading to children.

Older children become absorbed in stories and eagerly ask questions and predict what will happen next. Babies copy words and sounds as they snuggle on a staff member's lap to share a book. This helps all children to develop their skills in literacy, communication and language particularly well.

Staff monitor children's learning and use their findings to plan appealing activities and experiences. These, generally, help children to build on what they already know and can do, and help to prepare them for success in later learning. However, during some group activities, staff do not ensure that children have the prior knowledge and skills that they need before presenting them with more challenging tasks.

Pre-school children show an excellent awareness of expectations for their behaviour. They remind their friends of the routines in place to help to keep them safe. Younger children respond extremely positively to staff's guidance and show concern for others from an early age.

Managers review the practice in the nursery to help them to enhance children's experiences. For example, they have developed an 'imagination zone' where children can explore resources linked to different environments, such as the jungle and space. Children learn about the wider world and about lifestyles and cultures beyond their own experience.

Children develop an understanding of risk. For example, one child is a 'staff helper' and carries out simple safety checks of the garden. Children benefit from fresh air, exercise and nutritious meals that help to promote their good physical health.

They know to wash their hands at key times, such as before eating. However, staff do not consistently help them to learn even more about the importance of a wide range of good hygiene habits.Partnership with parents is a distinct strength.

Staff get to know children very well and offer support to the whole family. Parents have great confidence in staff and feel very involved in nursery life. Staff and parents work together to assess children's achievements.

Parents welcome ideas for supporting children's learning at home. For example, they borrow books from the lending library.Children are remarkably independent and resilient learners with exceptional listening and attention skills.

Staff encourage children to cooperate and persevere extremely well during their play. Children work together superbly to solve problems. For example, boys help one another to move sand in the 'construction zone'.

They make suggestions and discuss whether their ideas will work.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers ensure that safeguarding procedures are in line with current legislation and are shared with staff and parents.

Staff undergo extensive professional development to help to keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. They fully understand their responsibility to keep children safe and know what to do if they are concerned about a child's welfare. Managers have effective systems in place to help to ensure children's safety in the nursery.

For example, they review accident records to help them to identify and address and potential hazards. Stringent recruitment procedures and regular checks of staff's suitability help to protect children further.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: help staff to strengthen their understanding about the progression of children's learning and apply this consistently when deciding what to teach children next help children to extend and strengthen their already good understanding of the importance of good hygiene practices that support their good health.