Church Street Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff use assessment effectively to understand what children know and can do and how they can take the children's learning forward.

They provide children with a range of exciting activities and experiences. For example, babies explore how to tilt a tray back and forth and direct the egg through the paint. They crawl and clamber outside as they explore their environment.

Children learn about road safety and how traffic lights work as they play. Toddlers push their small-world vehicles through traffic-light coloured paint and foam. This, along with discussion, helps to consolidate children's learning.

Pre-school... children work together to connect pieces to create and then test marble runs. They shriek with delight as the flashing marble zooms along.Staff support children to build and develop their imagination and creativity well.

Pre-school children enjoy playing with the small-world farm animals in the peat. They take manageable risks as they manoeuvre, climb and sit on the old car tyres and play on the climbing frame outside. Children behave well as staff consistently support positive behaviour.

They form special friendships with each other. Children are confident, happy and talk freely and enthusiastically to the staff and to visitors about what they are doing.

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

A knowledgeable and enthusiastic management team leads the nursery.

Staff use their qualifications, knowledge and experience to improve the learning outcomes for children. Each room leader uses a theme to plan activities that engage children across all relevant areas of their learning. These themes follow children's interests, incorporate what staff are trying to help children to learn next, and build children's vocabulary.

The management team closely monitors the progress made by all children, including different groups of children. This enables the management team to identify any gaps in children's learning and to put plans in place to address these.The skilled and trained special educational needs coordinator is enthusiastically committed in her role.

She regularly liaises with the local authority adviser and other external agencies to identify, monitor and secure any additional support that children need. Staff have had training on how to use signs together with speech to support children's communication development. They regularly use sign language during routines and alongside songs to support disadvantaged, vulnerable and younger children's speech development.

The sensory room provides calmness and comfort and helps children to regulate their behaviour and learn through their senses. Children enjoy playing in small groups with a wide range of sensory toys, such as the illuminated tube, cube and floor tiles.Children and their families are warmly welcomed into this friendly nursery.

Parents comment on how much they value the secure online learning journal. This enables parents to read about their child's experiences, development and learning at nursery.Staff take joy in the uniqueness of each child.

They develop strong relationships with children. Staff recognise the importance of giving children cuddles, offering reassurance and praise as they play alongside them.The cook provides children with nutritious and well-balanced meals and snacks.

Children enjoy freshly cooked home-made dinners.The management team ensures that staff receive regular individual support meetings where they can seek advice, discuss any concerns and identify goals to work towards. They make sure that each member of staff's practice is monitored and any training needs are identified and planned for.

However, the management team has not effectively monitored how well staff are deployed at busy times of the day or how they manage the changeover of activities. Consequently, during such times, some children do not engage in activities or play.The management team receives individual support from the local authority adviser and attend regular network meetings and briefing sessions run by the local authority.

This helps them to make sure that they are constantly updated with new legislation and national and local initiatives. They use this information to reflect on their practice and improve the overall quality of the setting.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated person responsible for safeguarding children attends regular training. Staff have a good awareness of the signs of abuse and their responsibilities to protect children from harm. Most staff have attended paediatric first-aid training, which provides them with the knowledge and skills required to effectively administer first aid.

Staff thoroughly check all indoor and outdoor areas to identify and minimise any possible risks to children. This, along with effective supervision, helps to keep children safe and well. The management team effectively oversees the recording and reporting of accidents and incidents.

They fully understand how to promote and practice good infection prevention and control procedures. There are effective recruitment and induction procedures in place to ensure staff's 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: reflect on the deployment of staff during busy times of the day so that staff's interactions with children are consistently of a high quality reflect on the day-to-day organisation of the nursery so that younger children are effectively engaged during the changeover of activities.