Tops Muscliff

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children thrive in this happy and calm nursery. They form strong relationships with staff and their peers and play collaboratively.

Children build structures and make up games using a range of resources that encourage them to explore and be imaginative. They express preferences, make choices and solve problems. Children are excited at the opportunities to be creative and direct their own play.

Staff inspire, challenge and support effectively to deliver an ambitious curriculum and ensure that all children make good progress in their learning and development.Staff set the table for lunch with vases of flowers and tablecl...oths to provide children with a positive and inviting space in which to enjoy 'family' mealtimes. Pre-school children serve their own food; they use metal cutlery and pour milk from glass milk bottles.

Staff talk to children about the healthy food that is served and why it is good for them. This helps children to develop their social skills as they engage in conversations, and it introduces them to new vocabulary.Staff encourage children to play outside and to appreciate the natural environment.

Children plant herbs, which they then use in sensory play by, for example, mixing them with play dough and talking about how they smell and feel. Staff ensure that the children are part of the local community by taking them on regular trips to shops and a nearby care home for the elderly, where they get to know the residents.

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

The manager has a clear vision for a curriculum that builds on what children already know and uses their interests to engage them in learning.

She uses staff development effectively to support this. For example, all staff have trained in schema play, which enables them to understand how individual children learn best. However, adult-led activities are sometimes too difficult for the younger children and do not always focus sharply enough on what children already know and need to know next.

This means that, at times, children do not engage and benefit as much as they could.Children benefit from a range of opportunities to develop their physical skills. They ride tricycles, play with sand and look for bugs.

This helps to develop children's strength and coordination. The manager identifies areas for improvement and the impact on children's learning effectively. For example, she is currently in the process of enhancing the outdoor provision to provide greater opportunities for children to jump, climb and balance.

Staff communicate well with parents. Parents receive updates about what their children have been learning via an app and know what progress they are making. Parents talk about the nursery going 'the extra mile' to support them as a family.

For example, staff send home flashcards to encourage good behaviour after the birth of a younger sibling.Mathematics is a strength of the setting. Children learn numbers to 10 and how those numbers relate to objects and to each other.

For example, they open a nest of Russian dolls and match each doll to the correct number as a word, a digit and group of dots. Children learn size by comparing the dolls. This means they practise how to sequence, count and read numbers effectively.

Children are polite and well mannered. Staff emphasise the nursery's golden rules in a respectful way, and children take pride in following them by, for example, taking turns and being fair during a game of 'What's the Time, Mr Wolf?'.Staff develop children's language by extending sentences and using adjectives.

Children learn the initial sounds of simple words through rhythm, rhymes and songs. They explore how sounds can be loud, quiet, long or short, and they clap and stamp to demonstrate this. They match these sounds to written letters, and this helps them to develop their literacy skills.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from appropriate, unhurried activities, supporting them to interact with staff and other children. Staff identify key areas for development and use effective strategies to meet the needs of children with SEND. For example, they use picture cards to help children communicate clearly.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff recognise that they all have a responsibility to safeguard children. They understand fully the processes to follow if they have any concerns about a child and are able to describe times when they have used these processes well.

Staff know what to do if they are concerned about the behaviour of a colleague. They recognise the signs of abuse and neglect. The culture of open communication at the setting enables staff to talk to parents effectively about their child's well-being.

The manager develops safeguarding by discussing it at every staff meeting and supervision. This means that staff have regular opportunities to update their knowledge and to monitor the welfare of children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nensure that adult-led activities for younger children focus more sharply on what they need to know next.