Ladybird Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide an inviting environment. Children are happy to leave their parents, enter the nursery and settle into their base rooms. Strong bonds develop between staff and children. Staff encourage children to develop and build on their skills as they move up through the nursery. From babies up to pre-school, staff encourage children to build on their personal, social, physical and communication development. Babies develop an awareness of washing their hands and faces and learn self-feeding skills through gentle instructions given by staff. Toddlers demonstrate that they know the daily routines and the importance of taking turns and sharing. Pre-school children are confident to choose their own play and include staff and their friends in their learning.

Staff know the children and their interests well. They use this knowledge to build on children's development and self-esteem. For example, staff incorporate letter activities for the older children who show an interest in forming words. Toddlers enjoy painting, and staff incorporate different ways to apply paint, such as using straws. Staff in the baby room create opportunities for babies to explore different textures and smells, such as using cake crumbs to make edible 'sand'.

Children behave well. Clear expectations ensure that children know how they should behave. They receive encouragement from staff as they play, cooperate with each other and take turns. Children make good progress across all areas of learning and acquire the skills they will need for their next stage of education.

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

• Since the last inspection, the new manager has worked closely with the staff team to improve practice. Staff qualification ratios are being met. A focus on increasing staff's professional development and their qualification levels has led to several staff enrolling on childcare qualifications. Hygiene practices are good and staff remain vigilant and monitor what young children place in their mouth.
• The members of the management team demonstrate that they are aware of their roles and the requirements they need to meet. They have put processes and procedures in place to help them drive improvements. The manager shares his commitment to continue and sustain improvements. He has implemented several staff well-being schemes, which staff appreciate, and reduced their workload.
• A well-designed curriculum is in place. Staff are building confidence in adapting the new planning to reflect children's interests and their self-chosen play. Staff say how, following a reduction in the amount of written observations they make, they are now more able to target their practice on children's learning and development. Overall, Staff work well together. However, on occasion, there are inconsistencies in how they implement their practice to promote consistency for children's learning. For example, some staff forget to encourage older children's self-help skills, such as serving their own snacks, and other staff are less confident at signing to support children's communication.
• Children are keen to learn and happily share what they know with staff and adults. Babies share toys as they crawl through tunnels, explore different-textured materials and climb on foam shapes. Toddlers love being creative with train tracks, action songs and exploring in the sand trays. Pre-school children enjoy creating facial features out of play dough to add to a 'face' mat. They enjoy making red cake pops for a charity event and searching for different objects to match against shape cards to reinforce and consolidate their recent learning.
• Children develop a good awareness of healthy lifestyles. They receive healthy snacks and meals, freshly prepared by the chef. Staff provide a range of cooking activities and use these to build on children's learning, such as their counting and problem-solving skills and their awareness of other cultures and celebrations. A new initiative is teeth cleaning, and children confidently share how and why they brush their teeth. Children enjoy being outside, and staff encourage them to dress appropriately before going out to play. Children enjoy going in the garden; however, the learning environment outside is less engaging for children to build on their skills.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Parents receive a range of information verbally and through emails and online systems. Stay-and-play sessions help parents to see how their children learn at nursery and the key-person system enables secure bonds to form. Parents say they appreciate the increase in information-sharing, which has significantly improved over the last year.
• Children with emerging special educational needs and/or disabilities receive swift support from the special educational needs coordinator and staff. They work in close partnership with parents and professionals to implement strategies and support to meet children's individual needs and enable them to make the best possible progress.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve opportunities for children to engage, explore and extend on their learning and development, particularly outdoors
• develop systems for monitoring and coaching staff further to focus on promoting greater consistency in practice.