Sutton Day Nursery And The Sports Village Holiday Play Scheme

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Since the last inspection, staff in the nursery have worked hard to improve security. Staff keep children safe by completing regular headcounts when moving from one area to another.

Staff use fobs to enter rooms and keep a tally of children on a whiteboard. In the main, staff monitor children, and are aware of where to deploy themselves to keep them within sight and hearing. However, there are sometimes inconsistencies in the support they provide for children during routine times of the day.

For example, although staff are present, occasionally, some pre-school children come in from the garden without being given the supp...ort they need from staff.Children are generally happy and are busy with activities. Staff use termly topics to help to plan activities that are designed to teach and involve all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They invite members of the community into nursery to extend children's learning. For example, nurses and paramedics talk to children about people who help them. Staff intersperse adult-directed activities with child-led interests and free play.

For example, children enjoying being creative and using their imaginations during superhero play.Some staff engage children and offer them opportunities to think creatively. For example, pre-school children wonder what flavour ice cream they will have.

They offer different ideas and laugh at each other's suggestions. Staff link their ideas to the book they are reading and the food that the character in the story is eating. However, not all staff consistently engage children in high-quality interactions.

This means that opportunities for children's language development, creative thought, and social skills are restricted.

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

Children's behaviour is generally good. Staff are working towards identifying triggers for when children may be struggling with managing their behaviour or calming down.

They work together with outside agencies, such as the local authority, to find solutions and develop strategies. However, all staff do not consistently follow these routines and strategies. This means that children are not always given the help they need.

Children listen well to instructions but sometimes become bored and lose interest when staff do not follow through the routine or their request thoughtfully or quickly enough. For example, staff gather children for story time without a book, or line up children to move before going to the toilet first.Children enjoy delicious and home-cooked food from a varied menu.

Staff manage children's allergies well, and all staff show a knowledge of individual children's needs and intolerances. However, staff do not give all children adequate cutlery. This means that pre-school children cannot cut up their food and practise the skills they will need for school.

Most staff describe children well and use their observations and assessments to plan activities to help children to make progress. However, staff do not consistently support parents to know which stage of development their child is at and what they can do to support their learning at home. Not all parents are happy with communication and do not feel that they always know what happens at the nursery.

However, parents feel that they can speak to the friendly staff team if necessary.The manager is taking steps to improve working relationships and encourage an environment of positive communication to further strengthen safeguarding practices, such as whistle-blowing. The manager incentivises staff by encouraging them to vote for the best rooms in the nursery.

They have identified the need for more staff meetings and have introduced leadership meetings. However, not all staff feel listened to. Supervision sessions for staff are not yet effective or frequent enough to succeed in capturing all staff's opinions, as well as identifying their specific training needs.

Pre-school children enjoy playing outside. They work together as a team to work out how to stand on, stay upright, and move around a large tyre. They hold onto each other and use their balance and coordination to stay upright.

Children shout instructions and encourage their friends to move slowly and hold on. They are delighted in their achievements and shout their congratulations to each other.In the main, staff show care for children and their individual needs.

For example, they respond to babies who are not settling and take time to find the right toy to help soothe them. Staff in the toddler room understand the need for some children to climb and have adapted the room to accommodate this in line with guidance from outside professionals. Staff recognise the sensory needs of some children and provide special resources to help them.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to further understand and consistently implement routines and strategies in response to children's needs nensure that children have adequate resources and opportunities to develop their independence, to support school readiness develop communication with parents to ensure that they receive up-to-date information about their child's development and how to support their children at home nidentify and enable staff's training needs to ensure consistently high-quality teaching and interactions.