Stonehouse Private Day Nursery And Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy to say goodbye to parents at the nursery door as they are met with a warm welcome by their key person. They demonstrate how they feel safe and emotionally secure in their eagerness to play. Children are delighted to see their friends and explore the environment enthusiastically.

They share and take turns as they play together because staff are good role models and provide gentle reminders. The environment is arranged to promote independence and children choose toys easily. Staff have high expectations for all children and praise their efforts.

Children develop resilience as staff encourage them to ke...ep trying.Learning is purposeful as staff use their knowledge of what children know and can do to plan exciting activities. Babies explore natural resources with different textures.

Older children investigate colour mixing using cornflour, powder paints and water. Children have access to a large outdoor area, where they run and search for bugs. They learn about where food comes from as staff talk to them about the apples, pears and beans that are growing in the garden.

Staff encourage pre-school children to follow simple instructions. This helps to develop their listening and attention skills in preparation for starting school.

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

The manager and staff have worked hard following the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic lockdowns to help children to feel secure at the nursery.

They have robust procedures in place to minimise disruption to children's learning. As a result, children follow nursery routines well and take care of resources. They have good relationships with staff and show respect for each other.

The curriculum is well designed and ambitious. Staff support physical development particularly well. They ensure babies spend time on their tummies and provide different sized blocks for younger children to build with.

This helps to develop children's balance and coordination. Older children are challenged to pick up pom-poms with tweezers. This helps to develop the small muscles in their hands and fingers.

Staff make effective use of their observations and assessments to support children's next steps in learning. They plan activities based on children's interests and match this to their abilities. For example, several children have recently enjoyed a trip to the zoo.

Staff made a mini zoo and prompt children to say animal names as they play alongside them.Overall, staff are attentive to children's needs. However, they do not always identify when some quieter and less confident children need more support to help them to fully engage in learning and play.

Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities. They have access to a wide range of training to further develop their knowledge. Staff say they feel well supported by the management team.

During the pandemic, the manager made regular contact with all staff to support their well-being. Through regular supervision sessions, the manager is helping staff to reflect on their practice and improve outcomes for children.The manager and staff share a clear vision for improvement.

They recognise the negative impact of the pandemic on children's communication and language development. Promoting language development is a key focus across the nursery and staff introduce new vocabulary to children of all ages. As well as sharing stories and singing rhymes, staff engage children in focused communication and language activities.

However, staff do not consistently reinforce the correct pronunciation of words and encourage children to speak in sentences.Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents are very happy with the support their children receive and comment on how staff keep them informed about their progress.

They speak extremely highly of the manager and staff. Parents appreciate the efforts staff have made to maintain good communication and information sharing. They say this has helped to reassure them during difficult times.

Staff are proactive at accessing support for children who need it. They use additional funding to purchase resources or access training to support individual children's needs. As a result, all children make good progress from their different starting points.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff are able to identify potential safeguarding concerns. They have a secure understanding of the procedures to follow should they have concerns about a child in their care.

The manager completes daily checks to ensure the premises are safe. Staff to child ratios are maintained at all times throughout the nursery. The manager follows rigorous recruitment procedures to ensure staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff teach children how to keep themselves and others safe. For example, they encourage children to clean up spillages and help them to place a warning sign over a wet floor area.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review staff practice to ensure that they use every learning opportunity to promote children's communication and language development effectively give quieter and less confident children the support they need to always engage fully in their learning.