Sparkling Angels Day Nursery & Preschool

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are greeted at the door by familiar staff. Once inside children hang up their coats and quickly engage in play with their friends.

Children show that they feel safe and secure. Babies reach out their arms for reassurance when they need it. Older children confidently invite visitors and staff into their play.

For example, children ask visitors to smell the different aromas of their play dough creations.Children enjoy their time in the garden. They work together with their friends to transport water from a tray into the bamboo guttering.

They pour the water in the top and watch it cascade down. Children... try and catch the water with small buckets exploring capacity, as the water overflows. Toddlers giggle with delight as they blow bubbles with staff's guidance.

Staff support babies to crawl towards them and give them the space to practise their walking.Children use their large muscles and develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they practise throwing balls into large tyre targets, showing increasing accuracy. Children enjoy being creative as they decorate a cardboard box.

They eagerly climb inside, pretending it is a bus. Staff join them in their play and they sing songs together. Staff offer plenty of praise and encouragement, boosting children's self-esteem and confidence.

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

The manager has reflected on the weaknesses identified at the last inspection and made significant progress. For example, she has replaced the lock on the front door and ensured that all fire exits are kept clear. This protects the safety and welfare of children.

The manager and staff have sought support from the local authority to introduce some training to improve the quality of education. The manager regularly observes staff's practice and gives feedback on ways this can be strengthened. She encourages staff to observe each other and models practice by working directly with the children.

This has had a positive impact on the quality of interactions between staff and children.Staff gather information from parents when children start at the nursery. They use this information alongside children's interests to design a curriculum that builds on what children already know and can do.

Additional funding is used well to support children's learning. For example, they have purchased some books to create a lending library to support children's love of reading at home.Children engage in a wide variety of activities that are planned to ensure that children are motivated to learn.

For instance, children join in with a play dough-making activity. They confidently identify the ingredients that they need. Children experiment with the different smells they can add into their mixture and tell staff that it smells 'minty'.

Staff discuss the colours that they have made when they add food colouring to their mixture. However, they do not always use skilful questioning techniques to encourage children's critical thinking, to increase learning opportunities even further.Children are polite, well-mannered and respectful to others.

For example, when children accidentally roll a ball into others, they apologise without prompting. Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children know the expected behaviour well.

For example, they recall the rule of having 'good listening ears' in preparation for the story they are about to have. This helps children to develop the skills they need for future learning.Staff support children's speech and language well.

Throughout the day they enthusiastically introduce songs and dance into activities. Children sing, giggle and move their bodies to the songs. Staff read familiar stories to children in an expressive way that captures children's attention.

Children eagerly call out the next words in the story. Staff model language well for younger children. They repeat words back to them, adding extra words to the sentence.

This helps children to learn new vocabulary.Overall, partnerships with parents are positive. Information about children's progress is shared through an online app.

The manager shares some key information about the nursery through a newsletter. However, occasionally some information is not shared with parents, which leaves them frustrated.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard the children in their care. The manager regularly tests staff knowledge with questions to make sure they have a good understanding of the wider safeguarding concerns, such as female genital mutilation. The manager has reviewed her recruitment processes to ensure that those working with children are suitable to do so.

Staff know when and how to report concerns they have about a child in their care or about a colleague. The manager has made improvements to the building to further safeguard the children in her care.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: help staff develop effective questioning techniques to further enhance children's critical thinking and extend their learning to the highest level build further on existing good relationships with parents and provide additional opportunities to share information between home and nursery.