Chatterbugs Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children demonstrate that they are happy and well settled in this welcoming nursery. They arrive cheerful and ready to learn. Children enjoy affectionate relationships with staff and show that they feel safe and secure.

They seek comfort from staff when needed and snuggle up alongside them at story time. Children are friendly towards others and exhibit good social and communication skills as they interact with staff and their peers. They enjoy being independent and show high levels of confidence and self-esteem.

For example, babies learn to feed themselves from an early age, toddlers skilfully pour their drinks at snac...k time, and older children assuredly serve their own lunches.Children develop positive attitudes towards learning. They are curious and eager to explore the wide range of resources and activities on offer.

For example, babies discover different textures as they play with natural resources such as oats and rice. Additional resources, such as toy animals, enable them to use their imaginations and extend activities. Older children take part in tasks, such as simple science experiments, which help to enhance their understanding of the world.

They are fascinated as they mix ingredients together to create an 'erupting volcano'. Children make good progress and acquire key skills to support the next stages in their learning and prepare them for school.

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

Children benefit from a good-sized outdoor area.

They spend long periods outside and thoroughly enjoy the physical play opportunities, such as climbing and riding scooters. Children learn good hygiene routines. For instance, they wash their hands before eating and brush their teeth after lunch.

They show a positive attitude towards healthy eating and talk enthusiastically about their favourite fruit and vegetables.Children generally behave well. Babies play alongside each other, and older children cooperate during role-play games.

They enjoy the praise they receive from staff when they try their best or show kind behaviour. This helps to boost children's self-esteem. However, on occasion, staff do not provide consistent explanations, to help children understand the need for rules and boundaries.

The key-person system generally works well to support children's needs and provide continuity between their home and the nursery. However, staff do not always ensure that parents know who their child's key person is, particularly when children are transferring between rooms in the nursery. Nonetheless, parents speak highly of the quality of care and say their children have made good progress since attending the nursery.

Staff plan the curriculum so that it covers all areas of learning effectively. Overall teaching is of a good quality. For example, staff skilfully introduce counting and measuring during everyday routines, which helps enhance children's understanding of mathematics.

However, staff do not always take account of children's individual abilities when planning and delivering group activities. Consequently, sometimes these are too challenging, which means staff complete tasks for children and they do not extend children's existing skills and knowledge.Leaders evaluate the provision regularly.

They make effective plans to improve the children's learning and enjoyment. For example, the provider has recently introduced an extensive range of natural materials and real resources, such as wooden and metal cooking utensils. This gives the setting a more 'home-like' feel and encourages children to explore using their senses.

Staff say that these changes have further enhanced the learning outcomes for children.Staff say that they enjoy working in the nursery and describe it as being 'like a family'. They appreciate the time they are allocated away from working with the children, to complete tasks such as planning and assessments.

Staff attend training to extend their professional knowledge and share information with their colleagues to help develop their teaching skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager ensures that all staff have a good understanding of safeguarding matters and regularly tests their knowledge.

Staff complete regular safeguarding training and have a good understanding of a wide range of safeguarding issues. They recognise the signs that might mean a child is at risk and know what to do if they are concerned about a child's welfare. The provider uses robust recruitment procedures to help ensure the suitability of staff.

Staff conduct risk assessments to minimise any risks to children. They are vigilant in keeping children safe from harm and supervise them effectively.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the information shared with parents, to ensure that there is greater consistency in children's care and learning, particularly during times of transition help children gain a clear understanding of the reasons for rules and boundaries nensure that staff take account of children's ages and abilities when planning and delivering adult-led activities, to ensure that all children are consistently and suitably challenged.