Treetops Matlock

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

All children are content and happy and thoroughly enjoy their time at this welcoming and safe nursery. They form strong attachments with staff, who know them well.

The key-person system is effective and helps children to settle into nursery. Staff are kind and caring and provide encouragement and support when necessary, which helps children to feel secure.Staff have high expectations for children and assess their development effectively.

They provide a stimulating environment and activities that excite their learning. For example, older children learn about how volcanoes work. They experiment with ingredients and watch... how these erupt and explode.

This helps to ignite their language skills as they talk about what they see and learn new words such as 'transparent' and 'larva'. Children are well behaved throughout the nursery. They move freely around the rooms and outside self-selecting their play.

Children are comfortable in their surroundings, confident and well motivated. They explore and use their imaginative skills well. This is evident as young children jump and play in the mud.

They create crocodiles out of building bricks and scream with delight as their crocodiles 'float' in the muddy water. Babies are cared for in a relaxing and calm environment. Staff are attentive to their needs and find out about babies' routines before they start.

This means staff know about their sleeping and eating patterns and they can plan accordingly around these times.

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

Leadership is strong. The manager and staff are committed to continual improvement and reflect regularly on the service they provide.

They value the contributions that parents make to this process. Staff's well-being and development are considered and prioritised during supervision meetings. The manager is reflective and ambitious.

She is constantly thinking of how she can improve the quality of the service she provides. For example, since the last inspection, she has introduced home baskets. These are designed to assist parents with their children's learning at home.

Staff have established effective partnerships with parents. They keep parents well informed about the progress their children are making. Parents' noticeboards located throughout the nursery display a wealth of useful information to help support families.

The manager and staff provide good support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals, such as support workers, to ensure interventions are in place in order to close gaps in children's learning.The curriculum is well planned and provides activities that enthuse children and give them experiences outside of their home, as well as skills for their future learning.

For example, staff have created a library for children to use to increase older children's enjoyment of books. They take children swimming and on various outings, for example to farms.Friendly staff provide a stimulating environment.

They interact with children with positivity and respect. Higher than required staff-to-child ratios help staff to provide strong levels of support and care. However, occasionally, staff do not adapt teaching as necessary and build on opportunities to further challenge older children's learning to the highest level.

Children follow positive hygiene routines, such as handwashing, with little or no prompting. Meals and snacks are nutritious and regularly reviewed to promote children's health. Children eat their lunch alongside staff and become involved in conversations.

However, the organisation of lunchtime for the younger children does not always enable them to fully enjoy the social occasion or enable them to learn how to use cutlery effectively.Children demonstrate high levels of self-control and demonstrate that they understand the behavioural expectations. They play cooperatively with each other and readily learn to take turns.

For example, children push and roll cars down a ramp and quickly begin to say 'my turn, your turn' as the cars reach the bottom of the ramp. All children from an early age display a positive disposition towards learning.All children enjoy playing outside and develop their physical skills well.

Staff take safety as a priority. They let children take risks while well supervised, such as going up and down the climbing equipment. Staff check the rooms before the children start to ensure they are free from hazards.

They remind children to be careful when walking up and down steps as they move around the nursery.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have a good knowledge of child protection issues and a secure understanding of their role to keep children safe from harm.

They regularly update their knowledge and undertake training to find out about the wider issues of safeguarding. The manager knows what to do if they have a concern about a child in their care or if an allegation is made against a member of staff. Procedures for recruitment are robust.

The manager and regional director follow thorough recruitment procedures. They make sure staff are regularly checked for their ongoing suitability to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nadapt teaching as necessary and build on opportunities to provide extra challenge for older children's individual skills and learning nimprove the organisation of lunchtime routines for younger children, to help increase their skills and improve their level of enjoyment.