Apricot Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children form positive relationships with staff and demonstrate that they feel happy and safe. They benefit from an interesting and well-organised environment as they develop good attitudes to learning. Staff have a secure knowledge of children's needs and what they want them to learn.

Children show high levels of involvement in their play. They make many choices and explore interesting experiences inside and outdoors. Older children develop good listening and concentration skills in preparation for school.

They listen attentively to stories and build with a purpose in mind. They source a range of materials to create a... 'rocket' and use mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'huge', to accurately describe its size. Babies show enjoyment and natural curiosity.

They are eager as they play with resources that spark their interest. For example, they enjoy exploring a jungle theme using their senses, with mini animal figures, soil, leaves and fresh vegetables. They show delight as they pop peas out of their pods and feel the texture of broccoli and kale.

This supports their understanding of the natural world. Children understand the expectations for behaviour. They listen and respond to staff and willingly help with tasks such as preparing fruit at snack time and tidying up.

Children show respect for one another. They offer kind gestures to their friends and offer a hand to comfort others. This helps children to feel included and valued.

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

Children develop a love of books, stories and songs. Opportunities for these are plentiful. Staff read and sing to children in an expressive way, which captivates them.

For example, in the pre-school room, staff encourage children to join in with the story 'Chocolate Cake', and they do so enthusiastically.Children are highly motivated and develop good physical skills through a range of stimulating experiences. For example, children actively explore equipment in the outdoor area.

They delight in their achievements as they climb and balance across raised planks of wood.Staff encourage diversity and children's understanding of other cultures well. Children are able to see other languages displayed.

Staff support children who speak English as an additional language. This enables other children to learn new words in suitable ways for their ages.Overall, the quality of the curriculum is good.

Staff support children's communication and language skills well. They ask good questions and engage children in conversations to help them gain further knowledge. However, on occasion, some discussions are not pitched at the right level for children's understanding.

Partnerships with parents are good. Although parents spend less time on site due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, they speak favourably about the nursery. Staff continue to share information with them about their child through regular discussions.

In addition, staff invite parents to share information about their children's learning from home. They then extend on these skills within the nursery. Parents are positive about the support they receive for their children.

Although staff have recently changed the way they assess children's achievements, they have a clear understanding of what children need to learn next. Staff organise a broad curriculum that is based on children's interests and ideas. This helps to motivate the children in their learning.

Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. For instance, children spend one-to-one time with individual staff, who meet their needs well.The manager regularly monitors the quality of teaching and provides staff with feedback about how they can further improve their practice.

She continually reflects on the provision to identify further ways to build on good practice. However, there is an oversight in some records in ensuring that all information relating to children's care is recorded.Leaders support staff to ensure their well-being, and they are proactive in reviewing their workload.

Staff show passion and enthusiasm for their work and enjoy being part of the team. They attend supervision sessions and team meetings to reflect on their practice and achievements and to identify further training needs.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders understand their roles as designated safeguarding leads. They attend relevant training to keep their knowledge up to date. There are robust recruitment, induction and ongoing supervision procedures to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff are aware of child protection issues that might affect children in their care. They are vigilant and understand the possible indicators that a child may be at risk of harm. This includes the risk from wider safeguarding issues, such as extremist views.

Staff know the actions to take to report any concerns and understand the procedures to follow regarding allegations made against staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date ensure sufficient information is held about each child, including information about who has parental responsibility.22/10/2021 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to plan activities that are pitched at the right level for children's understanding.