Toybox Great Denham

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure at the nursery. They show good levels of engagement and independently access the range of good-quality, age-appropriate resources and activities.

Children are eager to learn new skills. Babies delight in practising and testing their developing walking skills. They participate in singing activities and staff share books with them.

This provides opportunities to understand new words, and sounds associated to the words. Babies and younger children are encouraged to 'roar' like a dinosaur and use sounds to imitate conversations on pretend telephones. They enjoy exploring ...wooden and metal objects, which successfully stimulates their curiosity.

Babies and younger children bang objects together and roll shiny balls along the floor.Staff support children to treat their friends with respect, to share resources and to walk appropriately indoors. Younger children learn to play cooperatively together and share ideas as they build the train track.

They demonstrate problem-solving skills as they think about different ways to rescue the animals and are introduced to words, such as 'magnificent and 'incredible', as they play. Younger children use paintbrushes to explore mark making in sand. They enjoy sharing books with the staff and show delight as they press buttons and lift flaps.

Older pre-school children use language to express their thoughts and ideas and count with growing confidence. They enjoy being physically active in the fresh air. Children have opportunities to learn about other cultures, beliefs and traditions, such as Chinese New Year and Christmas.

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

Managers have worked hard during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the well-being of the staff, parents and children. They provided additional emotional support, such as bereavement counselling, and recognised that some children needed additional support with their emotional well-being on their return to the nursery. Staff praise the manager for her support and state that they feel valued and appreciated.

Managers and staff place a high emphasis on supporting children's independence. This is evident from young toddlers collecting their hats, through to children in the pre-school room putting on their outdoor clothing without support. Children show great pride in demonstrating these skills.

Staff provide good levels of support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They undertake additional training to support them in this role. Staff work closely with the child's family and other professionals.

Achievable targets are set and adaptations are made to activities. This supports children to make progress and become engaged during their time at the nursery.Relationships with the parents are strong.

Parents praise the communication they receive from the nursery. They feel well informed about their child's achievements through regular developmental reviews. Parents know what their child is learning through daily interactions and the use of an online system.

They particularly value the fact they are provided with suggestions to support children's learning at home.Managers and staff demonstrate a good understanding of the children's dietary requirements, preferences and food allergies. This ensures that children's individual needs are met.

Children enjoy a wide range of nutritious meals and snacks. Mealtimes are used effectively to develop children's self-care skills. Babies and younger children learn to feed themselves with their fingers, and older children progress to using appropriate cutlery.

Older children butter their crumpets with growing precision and carefully pour their own drink.Staff complete ongoing observations of the children and evaluate this information to plan what they need to learn next. They recognise children's interests and use planned focused activities to progress their learning.

However, occasionally, staff interactions are not always used effectively to promote the planned learning intention of the activity. Furthermore, staff do not always use spontaneous opportunities to build on what children known and can already do.Staff receive ongoing supervision and have opportunities to attend training to develop their knowledge and skills.

The recently appointed quality manager plans to further evaluate staff practice to identify gaps in knowledge and provide further coaching to raise the quality of teaching to a higher level.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the signs and symptoms of abuse and neglect, including broader issues such as radicalisation.

They have clear procedures in place to act on concerns, including making prompt contact with relevant professionals and keeping important records. Managers follow secure procedures to check staff's suitability, which ensures only those deemed suitable to work with children do so. Managers and staff complete effective risk assessments to keep children safe.

The premises are secure. A good range of policies and procedures are in place to support the effective management of the provision.

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 promote specific learning intentions effectively during planned activities, and use every opportunity to extend children's learning during spontaneous activities.