Hirst Welfare Centre Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are confident and independent learners.

They eagerly join in with tasks that are appropriate to their age and stage of development, such as helping to set the table ahead of mealtimes. Staff model good manners and encourage kindness towards others. Children develop good social skills and show that they build positive friendships with one another.

For instance, they hold hands during physical play activities and dance sessions. They side step and skip in time with one another. Furthermore, children work together to build construction models.

They balance large tubes and soft blocks together to create t...heir structures.The manager is ambitious and demonstrates a clear understanding of what it is that she wants children to learn. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager recognises the impact on children.

She focuses on helping to develop children's communication and language skills and physical skills. Children eagerly join in with stories, songs and rhymes. Staff have considered core books to read with children that helps to build on all areas of children's learning.

For example, they read a story to help children to understand and label their emotions and encourages children to talk about how they feel. In addition, staff working with children who do not yet use spoken words use gestures and signs to communicate with them.

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

Staff build on children's mathematical understanding during activities, such as play dough and water play.

They encourage children to think about volume, capacity and measurement. For example, children count how much of different ingredients they might need to make their dough. In addition, they consider the volume of different containers during water play games.

Staff provide a supporting, welcoming and nurturing environment for children and their families. They ensure that children's voice is captured throughout all aspects of the nursery. For example, staff invite all children, including babies, to make choices throughout their play and to decide what they would like for snacks and drinks.

Staff provide children with healthy choices during mealtimes and help to develop children's understanding of oral hygiene. Furthermore, children look at their reflection in a bathroom mirror and wipe their faces after eating and follow good hygiene practices.Partnership working with parents is a strength of this setting.

Parents compliment staff on how well their children settle and build attachments with the adults who care for them. In addition, they praise staff for their partnership working with external professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to help provide additional support for their children. Staff share information about children's learning and development through an online platform, daily diaries and verbal feedback.

Parents are invited into the setting for events and are provided with newsletters about the activities that their children experience at the setting. Staff provide activity bags and library books for parents and children to take home and share together. This helps to provide a continued approach to children's learning.

Children engage in all activities. They spend time helping to make dough and to pour ingredients into a bowl. Staff encourage children to talk about how the mixture feels in their hands as they grab and squeeze the dough.

Children are encouraged to wait and to take turns. However, staff do not ensure that children are not left waiting too long during large-group activities. As a result, some children become distracted from their learning.

Staff are well qualified, and they understand their roles and responsibilities. They comment that they feel well supported in their role. They communicate well as a staff team and attend regular meetings, and staff benefit from supervision sessions.

The manager reviews staff performance and works with staff to identify any training needs.Children are assigned a key person when they first start the setting. The key person helps children to settle quickly and shares information about themselves with parents.

They establish secure relationships, and these help to build on children's self-esteem. However, on occasions, staff who care for children are not always consistent. For instance, staff deployment is changed regularly, including throughout the session.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and her staff team demonstrate an excellent understanding of safeguarding. They understand the local safeguarding arrangements and are clear who to report concerns about a child's safety or welfare.

Staff complete regular training and are aware of whistleblowing procedures and the role of the local authority designated officer. The manager is aware of the impact of domestic violence on families and how to respond to disclosures made by a parent or child. Furthermore, the manager is aware of the possible indicators of fabricated or induced illness.

She monitors medication, accident and incidents at the setting to help to identify any repeated patterns. Children's safety and well-being is given the highest priority.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: review large-group activities to ensure that all children remain engaged in their learning review staff deployment and the key-person system to provide a more consistent approach, particularly for the youngest children.