The Rocking Horse Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The management team and staff have a clear and collective approach to supporting children to learn and develop.

They have high expectations of all children, follow their interests and help children to make independent choices in their learning. Staff carefully monitor learning and development. They accurately identify appropriate next steps for children to ensure individual learning needs are supported.

As a result, all children, including those with learning difficulties or with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress. Children have warm and welcoming interactions with staff, which helps them... to feel safe and secure. Children snuggle in with staff as they are read or sung to.

Babies are content and gaze at staff intently when staff use nurturing interactions to support their early communication skills. As a result of the sensitive support staff provide, children behave well and develop positive relationships with staff and peers. Staff have formed effective partnerships with parents.

They keep them well informed about the progress their children are making. This helps to provide continuity of care for children and enables parents to continue children's learning at home. Parents appreciate the care their children receive.

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

Staff use effective teaching methods to help children make good progress. For example, they support older children's language and literacy skills by reciting poems with them and pausing to allow them to say the rhyming word.Staff support children to develop their mathematical understanding well.

Staff talk about 'empty' and 'full' as toddlers scoop and pour in the sand. Older children experiment with cardboard boxes and tape to build and construct. In addition, they explore floating and sinking using items such as bottle tops in water.

Managers meet with staff regularly and provide feedback on their overall practice. However, systems for monitoring teaching are not rigorous enough to identify precisely where staff need extra support to raise teaching to the highest standard.Children are supported to understand feelings and emotions even from a very young age.

For example, staff use picture books and mirrors with babies to talk about and model happy and sad faces.Staff ensure children are aware of rules and behaviour expectations to keep themselves and others safe and to form positive relationships. For example, they demonstrate to children how to handle the scissors safely and how to be kind to each other.

Children are independent in their learning. For example, they are able to play uninterrupted either indoors or outdoors. However, staff do not always organise group times as well as they could.

For example, at snack time and circle time, older children become restless as they wait for long periods for the fruit to be passed to them, or wait to find their name card to register their attendance. Consequently, children can become disengaged and restless.Children learn to become confident in their self-care.

For example, staff support them to put on their own wellington boots and waterproof clothing to go outside, and children show they have been taught good hygiene routines by proudly announcing 'I've washed my hands!' when they return from the toilet. This helps children to gain skills for the future.Staff teach children about healthy lifestyles and they provide opportunities for regular exercise.

For example, children take part in a regular 'stretch and grow' class where they can learn how their bodies work, and they have lots of opportunity to play outside to develop physical skills on the climbing equipment.Staff form effective relationships with parents. For instance, they keep parents well informed about their children's progress and encourage learning to continue at home by providing parents with story activity packs to do with their children.

Staff also provide daily feedback for parents on care routines for babies and young toddlers by completing a detailed 'My Day' form for them to take home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities in keeping children safe from harm.

Managers ensure staff attend regular and relevant training to keep their knowledge up to date. Staff can confidently identify the signs and symptoms children may present if they are at risk of abuse. Managers have robust policies and procedures in place to help staff know when and how to report concerns to the appropriate external services.

Staff are also fully aware of the whistle-blowing policy and what to do in the event of allegations. Managers follow effective safer recruitment procedures to ensure all staff working with children are suitable and safe to do so.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the monitoring of teaching to identify precisely where staff may need extra support, to maximise children's learning and raise teaching to an outstanding level review the organisation of group times for older children, including snack and circle time, to minimise unnecessary waiting and disruption.