Stroud Green Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children's smiles show how happy and secure they are. Their laughter and chatter fill the air in this vibrant and busy nursery. Children rise to staff's high expectations for their success.

Babies flourish in the care that they receive from the warm and knowledgeable staff. Staff are very aware of the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's social and personal skills. They work with parents to ensure that children remained secure have familiar toys and activities when they first start, and they help children to build bonds with staff and other children.

Babies and toddlers are confident and develop a po...sitive sense of themselves. They are welcomed by staff who greet them with smiles and cuddles. Children behave very well because they understand the rules and expectations provided by staff for positive behaviour.

Children find learning enjoyable. They become engrossed in activities and experiences that capture their interests. For example, babies and toddlers learn how to roll balls of dough.

Children use rollers and press down on cutters to create heart and angel shapes. Children showed good levels of concentration as they diligently manipulate and flatten the dough with their palms. Children imitate animals sounds as they read books and sing familiar songs.

They receive rewards from staff for their hard work with claps and cheers from the captivated audience.

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

The senior management team has clear expectations of what they want the children to learn. Their learning intentions for each child build on what children know and can do.

Staff understand how to plan and implement a child-led approach. Staff recognise that children need to have a solid understanding of new concepts and give them sequenced and varied opportunities to practise new skills.Children gain good physical skills.

Toddlers practise and perfect their ability to handle cutlery during mealtimes. Babies smile with delight, as caring staff gently support them to develop balance and coordination. They carefully concentrate as they successfully try to pick up coloured spaghetti with large wooden spoons.

Children develop good social skills and behave well. Staff treat children with respect and promote their self-esteem effectively, including through well-timed praise. Young children think about what makes everyone and every family unique.

They learn to be respectful towards their friends.Staff read to children with enthusiasm, use props and ask questions about what might happen next. Staff have implemented a 'Book of the Month' to enhance the importance of reading and to help children to gain skills for the future.

Babies and young children use props and are supported by the expressive staff to retell their favourite stories and while they sing songs. This practice supports children's early literacy skills.Parents are highly valued as partners.

Staff work diligently to keep parents informed about every aspect of their child's progress. Throughout the pandemic, staff provided resources for parents to extend children's learning at home and support progress. Parents speak very positively about the nursery.

They warmly describe the friendliness of the staff team and comment, 'Staff go above and beyond to ensure that children are happy, make progress and enjoy their learning'.Children develop independence, in preparation for their next stages in learning. Staff encourage children's self-care skills.

They remind them to wash their hands at different times of the day. Children learn to follow the daily routines. However, on occasion, babies and younger children wait too long during routine changes and become distracted.

During group activities, staff are quick to offer solutions and do not encourage children to think, predict and test their ideas to solve the problem. Nonetheless, children are keen to take part in the activities and show pride in their achievements. For example, while babies explore cutting dough shapes, staff push down cutters on the dough, tell them the colour and shapes they have cut, instead of letting children try to work out things for themselves.

Staff help children to develop effective communication and language skills. They model language and introduce new vocabulary for children to hear and repeat. Babies mimic the sounds they hear and babble with excitement.

Children are keen to join in action songs and rhymes, which helps to extend their speaking and listening skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The senior management team follow robust recruitment procedures to help ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

All staff complete thorough mandatory training, so that they understand their role and responsibilities. They understand how to recognise and report any child protection concerns, including broader safeguarding issues, such as the 'Prevent' duty. The senior management team provide regular training to make sure that staff's knowledge is up to date.

Staff are vigilant about safety, and they deploy well to supervise babies and young children. The senior management team embed a culture of risk assessment and daily hazard checks into the daily routines.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more time for children to think and respond to questions, to help them to share their thoughts and ideas and develop their critical-thinking skills nadapt routines to ensure they are flexible and responsive in meeting the needs of babies and young children, in particular to shorten waiting times.