The Maiden Lane Community Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children learn through play in a calm and safe setting. They are happy because staff know their individual likes and dislikes and do all they can to make sure children are comfortable. Children have good relationships with staff and settle well when they first start.

They feel secure and quickly begin to make friends. Children borrow books to share at home with their parents. When children return books, staff often read them to children again at story time to celebrate their love of stories.

This results in children becoming familiar with favourite stories and being able to talk about them. They are excited to share st...ories with adults and with their friends.Children break into joyful song as they engage in interesting activities.

They develop imaginative scenarios as they pretend to cook together. Children with additional needs are well supported by staff and encouraged to join in with a variety of activities.Children enjoy mealtimes.

They relax and have fun with their peers as they eat in the calm and soothing communal environment. Children develop good social skills. They are confident in the nursery and invite visiting adults to play with them.

Some children remember previous imaginative play scenarios and staff encourage them to invite other children to take part. Children persevere with games and cooperate with new friends.

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

Staff know the children well.

Overall, staff plan together and have a clear idea of how to help children's development. The nursery management team has a clear intent of how they can build children's vocabulary. However, staff do not always interact with children effectively.

For example, on occasion, staff miss opportunities to increase children's vocabulary when they are playing in the home corner.Staff help children to find their name to self-register when they arrive at the nursery. Staff support children to make clear connections between the initial sound of their name and other words starting with the same sound.

In addition, they praise two-year-olds for their attempts to vocalise sounds. Children have opportunities to develop skills needed for future writing. For example, they choose from a variety of different tools, such as crayons and felt-tip pens, to make marks.

Children develop good physical skills and fitness as they race around the outdoor area. Children have numerous opportunities to develop their small-muscle skills and hand-to-eye coordination. For example, they use spoons to collect sand and fill different containers.

In addition, they manipulate finger toys and play dough.The management team care about the individual needs of the children and their families. For example, they opened the nursery so that children could run and play in the playground during the restrictions imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Parents talk about the support they received from staff during this time and the benefits it had on their children's mental health.Staff support children who speak English as an additional language to settle into the nursery. Staff use a good range of resources that reflect children from diverse cultures.

They put together photo books about children and their families. This allows children to read books about themselves. Moreover, staff celebrate the special days of every child's culture to promote inclusion and to celebrate diversity in the setting.

Staff support children's independence well. They give children a choice of healthy fruits and vegetables at snack time. Staff encourage children to pour their drinks of milk or water and praise their efforts to help develop children's self-esteem.

Staff teach children to practise good hygiene habits to help reduce the spread of infection. For example, children wash their hands before eating and after using the toilet. Children sing songs while washing their hands for enjoyment.

Staff support children in their social development. Staff carefully and gently explain the consequences of children's actions on others. They encourage children to play well together and teach them how to resolve minor differences when playing with their friends.

This helps children learn how to negotiate and consider other's feelings and interests.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff rigorously risk assess all areas of the premises to remove potential hazards and keep children safe.

They supervise children well, particularly when they play in the busy community centre, to ensure their safety. The nursery leadership team follow safe recruitment processes to ensure staff working with children are suitable. They plan and discuss regular safeguarding training for all staff.

Staff have a clear idea of who to inform in case they are concerned for a child or about anyone in contact with children. In addition, staff understand their responsibilities under the 'Prevent' duty.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove the monitoring of staff's practice to address minor weaknesses in their teaching skills, particularly how they interact with children to help challenge children's learning even further.