The Old Barn Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children receive a warm welcome from the manager and key staff upon their arrival. This helps children to settle well in their age group room with their friends. Babies and toddlers thoroughly enjoy singing sessions where they learn core songs and rhymes.

Staff encourage the use of props to bring the songs to life and to make them interactive. This encourages children's communication and language skills and also their understanding of playing in a small group. Children take part in a 'wake up shake up' session to enable them to expel energy and be ready for learning.

Older children sit calmly and use scissors with grea...t skills, showing that this is something staff have taught them and they have learned.Children develop a keen interest in books and reading stories with staff. Babies can turn the pages of the board books and look intently at the pictures.

Staff encourage children to point out different things within the books and introduce new words, such as 'rainbow'. Older children help to recite the text from their favourite books. This builds on children communication and language skills and their awareness of early literacy.

Children build their small-muscle skills. They use safety knives to learn to chop vegetables, helping them to understand about food preparation. This supports children in readiness for their move to the next age group room, where they will prepare their own snacks.

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

There have been worthwhile and well-targeted improvements to the setting since the last inspection. There is a good drive to support staff development. This enables them to use their knowledge and skills, to provide children with a well-balanced curriculum.

The manager has a clear vision for how staff assess what children know, and how to plan for what children need to learn next. She offers guidance to staff where she identifies that they need a little additional support. She supports staff to help them understand that learning has a sequence.

This is evident as children learn skills they need as they move through the nursery and to the next age group room.Staff know their key children well. They understand how to use assessment tools successfully to review what children understand and can do.

Staff plan activities that they base on what children need to learn next. They are fully conversant with the rationale for each activity and what they want children to learn.Staff are not always flexible in their approach to the routines to meet the needs of children.

They change nappies according to the routine, rather than assessing if a child is engaged in play or if they are fully settled when they come back to the room. This sometimes interrupts children's enjoyment of and engagement in learning.Children thoroughly enjoy their time in the forest school area of the garden.

They make feeders for the birds and delight as they express that a robin came to feed. Children plant, tend and harvest crops and learn about where their food comes from. They hunt for insects and review how long the worms are that they find.

This strengthens children's awareness of nature and the world around them.Children access areas within their rooms to be physically active but also to relax and talk with staff. For example, in the toddler room, children can explore their feelings and how to acknowledge these.

They also learn the importance of being kind, gentle and respectful.Overall, partnerships with parents are good. Parents comment positively about the changes made to the provision and that they can see the difference.

For example, they spoke about the changes on the first floor and say that staff are now using all of the space available. However, on occasions, communications are not always consistent, which does not provide full continuity for children and parents.The manager is fully supportive of staff development to enable them to continually improve their practice.

For example, staff have a focus for their development which they plan for according to their children's needs. This includes training with a focus for outdoor play and also for forest school.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a clear understanding of child protection, including the wider aspects of safeguarding, such as differing cultural practices. Staff, including agency staff, know the processes to follow in the event of a child protection concern. This means that the designated safeguarding leads can make prompt and swift referrals to keep children safe.

Staff report that they receive good levels of support from leaders. They have regular individual meetings with the manager. This enables staff to identify well-targeted training that helps them to further enhance children's learning needs and styles.

Children learn how to keep themselves and other safe. For example, they learn how to use tools safely under clear guidance from staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen staff's understanding of the impact on children's learning when carrying out routine tasks, so their learning is not interrupted continue to build on communications with parents to consistently share information, to further support children's care and learning needs.