Yellow Brick Rd Nursery Clacton

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Children arrive happy at the nursery. They call through the window when they see familiar staff. They readily leave their parents and are eager to explore the activities on offer.

Staff are affectionate to children's needs and offer them comfort and support when required. Children enjoy the company of their friends and engage in conversation with them as they play. For example, children choose dressing-up clothes and pretend to be superheroes.

Other children join staff in the water tray as they take pleasure in filling and emptying cups of water. Despite this, the quality of education across the nursery is not consistentl...y good. Staff do not ensure that children remain engaged in purposeful play and learning.

Although the children enjoy the activities on offer, they easily lose interest and flit from one activity to another, often disrupting the learning of others. For example, when children enjoy making mud pies, other children run over and tip their mixture on the floor, halting their play. Some children enjoy reading familiar stories with adults, who read to them in an engaging way.

Staff ask children questions about the characters of the story and give them time to think and respond. This helps to develop children's vocabulary.

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

Leaders have worked hard and sought support from the local authority to address the actions set at the last inspection.

For example, they have improved the garden area to ensure that this is secure for children to play in. They have reviewed the layout of the room to make sure that it meets the needs of the younger children.Staff organise home visits to get to know the children and their families before they start at the nursery.

They use these opportunities to establish what children already know and can do. This helps them to plan appropriate next steps in their learning. Staff use ongoing observation and assessment to identify any gaps in children's learning and put support in place.

Children are beginning to learn the rules and routines of the nursery. However, staff do not manage unwanted behaviour well enough. For example, children stand on books, throw toys, and disturb other children in their play.

Staff do not challenge unwanted behaviour or help children understand why their behaviours are not acceptable.Staff offer opportunities for children to engage in group activities. However, on occasions these activities do not fully engage children as they are poorly planned.

For example, staff invite too many children to make play dough. This means that children need to wait too long for their turn to pour and mix the ingredients. Although some children show good levels of concentration, others lose focus and distract their friends.

Children are learning to be independent. For example, at snack time, children use small knives to spread butter onto crackers. They pour their own drinks and scrape their plates when they have finished.

This helps to prepare children for the next stage in their learning.Children benefit from trips out in the local community. Staff plan opportunities for children to join in with rhyme time at the local library.

Children are taken on trips to the nearby care home, where they interact with older people. This supports children's social skills and knowledge about the community that they live in.Parents speak positively about the nursery.

They value the support they receive from staff at the nursery in areas such as potty training. Children's progress is reported through an online app, so that parents know what their children are learning and the progress that they are making.Leaders have focused training to improve staff's knowledge, understanding and skills.

For example, staff attended training on helping children to be more physically active. As a result, staff have made some changes to the daily routines by adding short sessions on physical activity. This has a positive impact on children's physical well-being.

However, the monitoring of staff's practice is not robust enough to help them develop the knowledge they need to become skilful practitioners.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and staff understand their responsibilities to safeguard the children in their care.

They attend regular training to make sure that their knowledge is up to date. Staff understand the possible signs and indicators of abuse that may mean a child is at risk of harm or abuse. Recruitment procedures are effective to make sure that those working with children are suitable to do so.

Staff understand what to do if they have concerns about a child in their care or the behaviour of an adult working with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage and Childcare Register the provider must: Due date develop effective behaviour management strategies, so that staff have a consistent approach to better support children's understanding of positive behaviour and the impact this has on others and their learning environment.16/06/2023 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: develop the planning of the curriculum to ensure that it sustains children's attention nimprove the planning of group activities to ensure all children are engaged and benefit from good learning opportunities nimprove the monitoring of staff practice to develop their knowledge and understanding of how children learn, so that all children benefit from consistently good quality learning experiences.