Ladybird Children's Nursery - Archibald, Gosforth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are exceptionally happy in this welcoming, inclusive and nurturing nursery. Staff are kind, caring and attentive, which helps children to form strong attachments with them. Staff encourage parents to stay with children on their first settling-in visit. They collect lots of information about children's interests, lives and stages of development. This helps children to settle into the nursery very quickly. Children learn important skills and knowledge for their future lives.

Staff plan stimulating and exciting areas for children to play and learn in. Children have free-flow access to choose to play outdoors in the fresh air. Staff want all children to explore and understand the world around them, develop their independence and be ready for school. They plan the curriculum and environment to reflect children's interests and to help them to choose what they want to play with. For example, staff label resources with pictures and words, so children of different ages know where to find their favourite activities.

Staff place a focus on supporting children's personal development. They successfully help children to understand their feelings. For instance, staff encourage children to use visual cards and 'emotion stones' to recognise and talk about how they are feeling. Children behave well. They know what is expected of them and follow routines well. For example, children respond immediately to a tidy-up song. Staff teach children how to keep themselves safe. For instance, children understand how to carry cutlery safely when setting the table.

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

• The manager has an extremely strong knowledge of the curriculum that she wants staff to implement. She supports staff very well. Staff use their observations and assessments to plan children's next steps in learning.
• Staff encourage children to develop their independence at every opportunity. Children confidently cut their apples and spread butter on their crackers at snack time. Younger children very competently peel the tops of their yoghurt pots.
• Staff work closely with settings which children also attend to support continuity in their learning. For instance, they use the same font as local schools on labels and displays to support children with their later learning in literacy learning. Staff share summaries of children's progress when they move on to a new setting.
• Children have lots of opportunities to practise their fine motor skills. Younger children make marks on a large scale, such as on easels and on whiteboards. Older children take part in structured sessions where they manipulate dough, to develop the muscles in their hands.
• Staff support children with with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) very well. They use visuals and Makaton signs to help children to communicate and understand what is happening next. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) makes sure that support plans are in place and that staff work with external professionals to help children to make the best progress they can.
• Parents are positive about the care and education their children receive. Staff work closely with parents to support children's learning, health and well-being. For instance, they share regular information about children's development. Staff offer advice to parents, such as, around chopping up grapes in children's packed lunches and how to promote good oral hygiene with their children.
• Staff expose children to a wealth of books and stories. Children sit in a cosy tepee outdoors sharing their favourite stories with staff. They explore oats in the role-play area when reading the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'. Staff regularly sing songs and rhymes with children throughout the day. This helps to develop children's vocabularies and early literacy skills.
• Children very engaged and motivated in activities. They try hard and persevere, such as working out to make a water wheel spin. Children work happily together to dig up mud, transport it in a wheelbarrow and play imaginatively in the mud kitchen. There is a calm and purposeful atmosphere in the nursery.
• Staff supervise children well to keep them safe. However, at times, staff are not consistently deployed to focus fully on younger children's learning needs. For instance, staff do not focus precisely on what individual children need to learn next as some group times for younger children are large.
• Managers make sure that staff attend all statutory training, such as safeguarding and first aid. They support staff to further their qualifications. However, managers do not focus professional development precisely on extending staff's knowledge to an even higher level, especially in the area of communication and language. For example, at times, staff do not recognise the importance of removing younger children's dummies when they are trying to speak.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• think about how to deploy staff to support younger children's next steps in learning more precisely
• focus professional development on enhancing staff's knowledge to an even higher level, especially in the area of communication and language.