Mereside Farm Children’s Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive with big smiles, eager to see their friends. They form strong bonds with staff.

Children behave well. They have a clear understanding of what is expected of them because rules are embedded from a very young age. They share, take turns and show high levels of confidence and maturity.

For example, as children use tandem trikes, a child says 'it's my turn to sit now and you pedal' and they swap tasks amicably. Children complete tasks for themselves and demonstrate a can-do attitude. They learn to use cutlery safely and scrape their own plates after lunch.

All children, including those with special... educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress from their starting points. Children develop their large-muscle skills as they run, climb, dig and play chasing games. Children learn about the importance of good oral health and healthy eating, through discussion and fun activities.

They learn new vocabulary, such as 'plaque'. Babies are happy and content. They smile as they explore paints with their hands and giggle as they knock down wooden blocks.

Younger children learn to count and recognise shapes. Older children learn simple fractions as they make cakes in the outdoor play kitchen. This prepares them well for future learning.

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

Managers evaluate the nursery and frequently monitor staff practice. They have a good understanding of the nursery's strengths and areas for improvement.Children demonstrate they feel safe and secure.

Staff have high expectations of children. They talk to them in a calm manner and support them to learn right from wrong. They share their behaviour procedure with parents and nursery rules with children, so they know what is expected.

Managers have a secure knowledge of how children learn and provide a broad and ambitious curriculum. Staff have a secure knowledge about each child's specific care and learning needs. They use this to help children develop and progress in their own individual and unique ways.

However, occasionally, staff miss opportunities to encourage less-confident children to fully engage in group activities.Children are independent and display positive attitudes towards learning. Staff are extremely respectful to children.

For example, they give them time to finish their activities to their satisfaction, before moving them on to another activity and ask permission before they write their name on their work.Communication and language development is a strength of the nursery. Staff engage children in many interesting conversations.

Children hear new words and repetitive phrases as they join in singing rhymes and songs. They listen to stories and enjoy looking at books, independently and with their friends.Babies benefit from nurturing and supportive staff.

Staff encourage them to explore and investigate a range of resources within their easy reach. For example, they play with musical instruments and explore various cause and effect toys. They demonstrate curiosity as they push, pull, lift or press parts of these toys to discover what might happen.

Staff recognise children's preferences and learning styles. For example, the outdoor area is used extremely well to promote learning experiences, where children enjoy the space, fresh air and use of natural resources.Managers ensure that staff receive ongoing training, that is relevant to the needs of the children that attend.

Staff workload and well-being is important and staff report they 'feel part of a great team'.Managers monitor children's progress closely. They provide swift intervention when children need extra help or where they are at risk of falling behind.

Staff work closely with outside agencies, such as speech and language therapists.Parents speak highly of the nursery. They report that their children enjoy attending.

They also comment positively regarding the progress they have noticed their children have made during their time in the nursery, particularly in their confidence and language skills. However, parents do not receive enough detailed information from staff about what is next for their children to enable them to build on this learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff carry out daily checks on the premises and toys to ensure they are safe for children to use. Risk assessments are undertaken when planning activities to identify and remove any potential hazards. Children are supervised closely at all times.

Adult-to-child ratios are maintained as required. Managers and staff have a secure understanding of child protection and the procedures to follow if they have any concerns about a child's welfare, including their 'Prevent' duty responsibilities. Managers keep appropriate records.

Robust recruitment and vetting systems are in place. This helps to ensure staff working with children are suitable.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: consistently support less confident children to actively engage during group activities provide parents with more precise information about their children's next stage of learning, to enable them to further extend their children's learning at home.