The Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children arrive confidently and are eager to start the day. They smile broadly as they greet staff and their friends before settling upon widely varied activities of their choice. Children show that they feel safe and secure.

They establish extremely strong bonds with staff, showing genuine affection towards them. Babies confidently move about the stimulating and homely environment. They smile, babble and show recognition and enjoyment of songs and rhymes that staff sing.

Children behave incredibly well. They hear prompt and consistent messages from staff that help them gain increasing self-control and understan...ding about the impact of their actions. Children are deeply engaged as they explore and play.

They are extremely curious and highly motivated to join in with the stimulating range of experiences provided. Children gain a very strong sense of community. They explore the local diverse area with staff.

For example, they attend events at the local library, museum and cathedral. Children welcome visitors to the nursery and learn about faiths and customs that are different to their own. For instance, they learn about the story behind Chinese New Year celebrations.

Children develop a strong understanding of their differences and similarities, showing high levels of respect towards each other. Children gain the skills they need to help to prepare them for life in modern Britain.

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

Leadership is inspirational.

Leaders are highly motivated and dedicated to providing all children with outstanding quality care and education. They inspire staff practice and continuously strive for excellence. Leaders highly value their staff and work closely with them to promote their well-being and ensure workloads are manageable.

Leaders provide an ambitious curriculum that successfully helps children gain excellent skills for the future. Learning experiences reflect children's emerging interests extremely well. Staff help all children build on what they already know and can do to securely gain new skills and knowledge.

Children are active learners who show incredibly positive attitudes to learning.Staff establish extremely strong partnerships with parents. They provide parents with a wealth of information about their children's progress in learning.

Parents give high praise about the nursery and staff. They know precisely what children need to do next in their learning. Parents borrow from a wide range of books and resources to support their child's ongoing learning at home.

They feel very much involved in nursery life, taking up opportunities to attend stay and play sessions and read stories to children. Staff arrange social events for families to attend, creating a nursery community that provides high levels of support and nurtures friendships.Staff provide children with highly stimulating and interesting activities that inspire awe and wonder.

Children show high levels of engagement and learn to share and take turns. Toddlers learn how to safely cut oranges. They explore the segments and push the orange halves onto juicers.

They talk about the changes that occur and taste the juice after pouring it into cups. Children relish the plentiful opportunities to do things for themselves.Staff working with babies provide an exceptionally calm and nurturing environment that encourages babies' natural urge to explore.

Staff are highly attentive and responsive to babies' needs. They talk in soft tones as they name objects babies choose and sing songs as they play. Staff know babies well.

For example, they build on babies' interest in ducks. They sing songs about ducks and take babies out to feed the ducks.Children are highly confident talkers who build wide vocabularies.

This supports the opportunities staff provide for children to inspire a love of reading. Children show excellent listening and attention skills as staff read stories. They think carefully and share their ideas when staff ask questions linked to the story.

For example, children imagine how recycled water bottles could become a car or a football. Staff build on children's interests to write stories. They help them to write sentences and explain how to use a full stop and apostrophe.

Children's health and well-being are exceptionally well supported. The nursery cook creates a tasty menu, in line with government guidelines, to provide children with nutritious well-balanced meals and snacks. Children help to make bread each day.

Children are active both inside and outside. They enjoy yoga classes and routinely walk to events and shops in the city. Children grow herbs in the garden and harvest these to scent play dough they make with staff.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders are highly experienced and knowledgeable about their responsibilities to safeguard children. They ensure staff receive regular training and updates about child protection and safeguarding issues.

Staff discuss the lessons learnt from published serious case reviews, together with local and wider safeguarding issues, to continually develop their safeguarding practice. Staff confidently fulfil their role to protect children from harm and know what to do if they have any concerns about a child's welfare. Leaders implement robust recruitment processes to help to assure the suitability of adults working with children.