Sunnybank Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create a nurturing, homely environment where children enter happily because of excellent settling-in arrangements.

Children and babies have strong emotional attachments to the kind and caring staff, helping them to feel safe and secure. Staff kept in close contact with families during the COVID-19 (coronavirus) national lockdowns. For example, they shared activity ideas and online videos of them singing and reading stories.

They also asked parents to share children's achievements, in order to suggest what they could help children to learn next. Consequently, children continued to make progress and returned with e...ase. When children returned, staff focused strongly on supporting children's social skills, their independence and on settling them back into the nursery routine.

The success of this is clearly evident across the nursery.Children behave well and enjoy helping with tasks. They competently use cutlery and readily express their feelings and emotions, for example, through puppets.

Children in the pre-school room form close friendships and delight in sharing ideas and solving problems together. For example, they work out how to carefully balance guttering at the right angle, to enable transport toys to whizz down. Children aged two excitedly observe and explore sensory materials, such as paint, while making marks using their large- and small-muscle skills.

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

Staff gather extensive information about children on entry, including their development level. They generally build on this well through continuous observation, assessment and planning of an effective curriculum. They promptly identify and address early development delay.

However, staff do not optimise use of the baby room's learning environments when planning for what they want children to learn. Consequently, older toddlers, in particular, aren't always challenged, engaged and motivated to the highest level.Although parents are not yet coming into the nursery, strong partnerships remain.

There is extensive two-way communication, both electronically and through friendly conversations outside the entrance, between parents and the children's key person. Parent feedback is highly complimentary. They comment on the caring nature of all the staff, their children's progress and how their children are always coming home with impressive new knowledge and words.

Staff, especially those more qualified and experienced, interact well with children to build on their learning. For example, staff model building and counting the tower of blocks in the construction area with younger children. Staff explain the difference between a carnivore and a herbivore as older children play with dinosaurs.

However, staff do not always adapt their questioning when younger and older children are engaging in activities together, to optimise their learning.Staff promote children's physical development effectively, creating a strong foundation for children's early writing skills. Older children play skittles and climb in and out of the stack of tyres.

They competently use scissors and enjoy drawing pictures related to their interests, such as dinosaurs. Babies tentatively take steps using walking aids and younger children handle cutlery and resources very well.Staff build on children's language and love of stories and songs, which supports children's future reading skills.

Senior staff in the baby room model language well during care routines and activities with babies and toddlers. Toddlers delight in copying words and actions during music time. Parents borrow children's favourite books to share at home.

Older children learn about the components of a book and make up their own stories together.Staff celebrate children's achievements at home and at nursery. For example, they use initiatives such as 'awe, wonder and wow' photograph display boards.

This not only fosters children's self-esteem and confidence, but helps children to remember what they have learned through revisiting photographs.Children going to school in September 2021 show great independence. They put on shoes and coats, toilet themselves and competently use cutlery when eating the home-made spaghetti bolognese.

The provider and management team continually reflect on practice. They continue to embed systems for monitoring staff and supporting their professional development. For example, management video staff, offer feedback on their teaching and provide further training opportunities.

Staff help children to learn about difference effectively. For example, children celebrate the 'country of the week' through activities and tasting multicultural foods.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff implement robust risk assessments to help children stay safe. As part of this, there are rigorous procedures to minimise the risk of COVID-19. This includes being involved in a pilot COVID-19 audit.

The management team continually reinforce staffs' strong knowledge of child protection issues. Staff attend regular refresher training, answer daily on-the-spot questions and complete quizzes. Furthermore, the management team have completed a safeguarding audit to moderate their practice against.

Staff closely supervise babies taking their first steps, to minimise accidents. They demonstrate further effective safety practices, such as ensuring that food is appropriately cooled before giving this to babies and toddlers.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: further develop planning for the baby room's learning environments, to provide greater levels of challenge for the older toddlers and promote their engagement and focus on learning to the highest level support staff to adapt their questioning techniques when different age groups are taking part in activities together, to optimise children's learning.