Akhter Early Learning Centre Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive and settle quickly with support from nurturing staff. Leaders and staff create a dynamic environment that ignites children's curiosity and sense of discovery. Staff prompt children to make informed decisions about what they would like to explore next. In the garden, older children have an amazing time exploring the stepping stones and going down the slides, building on their gross motor skills, balance and coordination. Babies concentrate as they explore the sandpit and scoop sand with spoons into a pot, developing their fine motor skills and sensory experiences. Supportive staff encourage children to take turns and share resources with their peers, which helps build on their emotional resilience.

Staff and leaders are very warm. They have high expectations of children and they follow the setting's routines and boundaries with confidence. Children are positive and independent learners. For example, at snack time, babies work hard to pick their own food using utensils. Older children help tidy up, while singing a song. This helps children feel involved and valued during their time at the setting.

Children behave well and are respectful and considerate towards staff and peers. Staff are very intuitive and promptly respond to children's needs with kindness and empathy. Staff recognise children's achievements and continuously praise them for their efforts to boost their self-esteem and confidence.

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

• Leaders and staff place a great emphasis on ensuring they offer a diverse and inclusive provision. They have good understanding of children's needs and interests and consider these when planning activities. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and children who speak English as an additional language are well supported to make good progress in their learning.
• Staff have good knowledge and understanding of children's development. They complete regular observations and plan for the next steps in children's learning, which they review regularly and share with the parents. However, staff do not always identify when children need higher levels of interaction and more challenge to consolidate and extend their learning further.
• Staff are very nurturing and have formed caring relationships with all children. They model language well and ask questions. However, staff do not always reflect on the implementation of the daily routines. For example, they have not considered the length of group sessions and how this affects children's ability to complete their activities to their satisfaction.
• Staff create meaningful opportunities for children to build on their fine motor skills and problem-solving skills. They encourage children to use tweezers to pick small bears and place them in a bowl. Children concentrate well to follow the instructions, grouping the bears and recognising the colours. This also supports children's mathematical skills and hand-eye coordination.
• To consolidate children's listening and attention skills, staff provide opportunities for children to discover and observe the features of 'surprise' objects. They learn about new concepts such as 'long' and 'short' and 'soft' and 'hard'. Children enjoy exploring play dough. Staff guide them to mix all the ingredients together using kitchen utensils. Children then use various cutters to make pretend cakes, while engaging in pretend play with their peers and staff. This further develops children's role play and imaginative skills.
• Children understand about the importance of following appropriate hygiene routines, such as washing their hands before meals and after using the toilet. On occasions, staff do not follow the appropriate routines themselves to consistently promote children's good health.
• Children enjoy singing their favourite nursery rhymes. Older children choose what they would like to sing next, successfully completing the associated actions. Younger children smile with content when staff sing to them, and they join in, shaking rattles to the rhythm of the music. This supports children to express themselves creatively and strengthen their social interactions.
• Leaders have a clear vision for the setting. They reflect on their practice and strive to deliver high-quality care and education. Leaders have created a positive and supportive culture to motivate and inspire all staff. They organise regular meetings and supervision meetings while providing tailored training opportunities.
• Partnerships with parents are effective. They feel well informed and appreciate the progress their children make. They value the spacious and stimulating environment and comment that their children are very happy to attend.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the quality of staff interactions with children to consistently challenge and extend children's learning while they play
• encourage staff to reflect on the daily routines to ensure that children can complete activities to their satisfaction
• help staff to follow the setting's hygiene procedures to consistently promote children's good health.