Victoria House Day Nursery Limited

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and content in the care of the nurturing staff team. Staff are tuned into children's individual needs.

They quickly recognise when children become tired or hungry. Babies and young children receive lots of cuddles throughout the day. This helps them to feel emotionally secure.

The youngest children sleep peacefully in comfortable surroundings. Staff check on them every five minutes to ensure they are safe and well.Children access a broad curriculum.

Babies explore textures, such as paint and sand. They excitedly dip their fingers into paint and make marks on paper. Staff sit alongside them t...o offer praise and encouragement.

Pre-school children develop good mathematical skills. They count in sequence to 20. Pre-school children display high levels of concentration.

They arrange numbers in the correct order and tell staff that 'one and zero make 10'. Young children develop strength in their fingers and hands in readiness for early writing. They use tools to cut and make shapes from dough.

Young children recognise colours, such as orange and pink. They use the vocabulary of shape and tell staff that they have made a star. Pre-school children independently manage their self-care.

They take responsibility for small tasks. Children enthusiastically help to tidy away the toys. They work as a team to carry a box of toys across the room to put away.

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

The enthusiastic manager and the dedicated staff team strive to deliver high quality care and education at all times. Since the last inspection they have enhanced their relationships with parents of children who speak English as an additional language. Staff seek and learn words that children use at home to support their play at the nursery.

They complete the progress check for children aged between two and three years, and have a good understanding of how and when to seek early intervention if children are not at their expected levels of development.Staff know children and their families well. They plan a wide range of interesting play activities around children's individual interests to support their learning.

Staff make regular observations of their play to identify what children know and can do. They use this information to plan for children's future learning. Although staff make their own assessments of children's development when they begin to attend, they are yet to gather enough information from parents about what children already know and can do at home to precisely identify children's starting points and effectively plan and monitor their progress from the outset.

On the whole children behave well. Staff teach children to share, take turns and to use 'kind hands' and kind words. However, on occasion, when children display challenging behaviour staff are not consistent in their approach.

This means that children receive mixed messages and do not always know what staff expect from them.Staff effectively support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They work closely with other professionals, such the local authority special educational needs advisor and speech and language therapists, to ensure they tailor children's learning to meet their individual needs.

This helps children with SEND to make good progress. The manager makes sure that any additional funding the nursery receives is used effectively. For example, to provide one-to-one support or to purchase extra resources for children.

Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff speak to them at drop off and collection times and add their observations of children's achievement to online learning records. This helps to keep parents updated about children's progress and supports them to continue or extend learning at home.

Parents are highly complimentary of the service the nursery provides. They state the staff are 'So welcoming and lovely', and that they do a fantastic job.The nursery promotes healthy eating and provides children with nutritious meals and snacks.

Children have daily opportunities to be physically active and play outside in the fresh air. They learn to balance on tyres and ride on wheeled toys.Children benefit from meaningful interactions with staff to promote their communication and language skills.

As children engage in role-play activities, staff talk to them about the items they want to buy from the pretend shops and how much they will cost.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard children.

They know the potential signs and symptoms that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. Staff are aware of the procedures to follow should they need to report a concern about a child's welfare. They know what to do in the event of a concern about the conduct of a colleague.

Staff check the environment each day to ensure that it is a safe space for children to play. They support children to take responsibility of their own safety and teach them how to use tools safely.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: seek further information from parents about what children already know and can do at home and use this information to plan for their learning and monitor their progress from the outset support staff to provide an even more consistent approach to behaviour management to help children fully understand what is expected from them.