The Old Fire Station Children’s Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The managers and staff have designed the play environment to reflect the different areas of learning and to engage children.

Although they do not have a dedicated outdoor space, children have lots of opportunities to be physically active indoors. Babies access lower-level climbing frames and climb in and out of a ball pool. Older children learn how to pedal bikes and access more challenging climbing equipment.

Staff ensure that children receive daily opportunities for outdoor learning. Babies show an awareness of their environment and listen to staff sing songs as they enjoy travelling in pushchairs on a city-centre wa...lk. Older children listen for sounds and look for specific city features, such as buses.

Staff supervise children well and are alert to potential hazards.Children form close bonds with staff. Staff are nurturing, and they understand how babies need to be comforted.

Children thoroughly enjoy the interactions with the staff. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour, and children listen attentively to instructions. The manager and staff support children's early literacy skills well, and books form a central part of how they deliver their curriculum.

Babies enjoy making marks as they explore with paint, and older children concentrate as they listen to stories. They show they have understood the events and the characters' personalities as they offer their ideas about what is happening and why.

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

Self-evaluation is effective.

The managers take advantage of government initiatives and the support from the local authority to seek further ways to improve the provision for children. They have recently enhanced the way staff use books to reflect children's stages of development.Staff benefit from ongoing professional development to extend their knowledge and skills.

For example, staff have recently received training to identify further opportunities to teach mathematics through play.The managers reflect well on their overarching curriculum and identify where they need to make adjustments. The curriculum is well designed to help children build on their knowledge and skills over time.

For example, as children develop their social interaction skills, they spend more time creating storylines with their friends in the role-play areas.Staff know children well and monitor their progress effectively. They carefully review children's communication and language development and provide specific teaching when they identify that children need additional support.

However, staff do not use all of the information they gather from their observations of children's progress to plan precisely for their learning. This means that some teaching and planned activities do not have a specific enough focus on progressing children's knowledge.Overall, teaching is good.

Staff join in with children's play enthusiastically and successfully motivate them to explore and learn. Staff model good use of language and skilfully support children to progress well in their communication skills. Babies learn songs, and older children engage in lively discussions.

However, at times, staff do not maximise opportunities to help extend children's knowledge and skills across the different areas of learning.Staff support children's health well, and children enjoy the nutritious home-cooked food and healthy snacks. Children learn about good hygiene routines, such as putting their hand to their mouth when they cough and then washing their hands so they can limit the spread of germs.

Staff are vigilant and follow appropriate procedures when children show signs of feeling unwell.Children behave well and understand the rules of their daily routines, such as sitting down to eat. Staff help older children to understand a range of feelings and how actions impact other people.

Children show empathy and recognise an act of kindness.Parent partnerships are strong. Parents appreciate that they can go into the nursery to talk with their child's key person and exchange information about their child's achievements.

Staff provide them with lots of ideas to support children's language development at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The managers ensure that all staff are well trained in their safeguarding practice and procedures.

They have an effective induction policy so that new staff fully understand their responsibilities to keep children safe. Staff complete effective risk assessment and consider contingency plans when they take children out into the city centre. The managers and staff understand potential indicators that a child is at risk of harm, including the local area safeguarding concerns.

They know how to report a concern and about the importance of following up on referrals they have made with the local safeguarding partnership. The managers complete safe recruitment training and verify the suitability of new staff.

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 use assessment information and their observations of children's achievements to plan precisely targeted learning experiences for each child nenhance teaching so that this provides children with a high level of challenge and staff use every opportunity to help children to build on their knowledge and skills.