Ladybird Nursery Anerley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive enthusiastically at this welcoming nursery. Staff greet them warmly, and immediately engage them in interesting activities. It is clear that staff have friendly and caring relationships with children and know them well. Young children settle well into routines. They seek comfort and reassurance and enjoy regular cuddles with familiar adults. Older children are confident, well behaved and kind and considerate to one another. Children develop good levels of independence in preparation for their future learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.

Staff organise the nursery effectively to ignite children's curiosity. Younger children engage in watching the bubbles fall to the floor and pop. Children make choices about their play and follow their own interests and ideas. Older children describe how they arranged their environment to organise it better. This supports their confidence and self-esteem as they know their voices are valued.

The caring and attentive staff are good role models and encourage children to use good manners and be kind to each other. Children cooperate well together and play happily with their friends. Younger children wait for their turn as they post coloured balls into guttering pipes. Older children work together developing ball skills in the garden.

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

• The manager has a clear overview of the curriculum and monitors its effectiveness. She supports the staff to identify where children may be falling behind in their learning and takes action to help them keep up. Staff work well with outside agencies. Additional funding is used effectively to provide the targeted resources and experiences some children require to thrive and develop. All children make good progress.
• Children are confident communicators. Babies smile, babble happily and begin to say new words with the gentle support of staff. Staff expertly encourage children to talk about their experiences and home life to enhance their speaking skills further. For example, staff help younger children to extend their sentences as they excitedly talk about their recent trip to the local park to see dinosaurs.
• Children have excellent concentration and exhibit extremely positive attitudes to learning. Staff identify children's learning needs and support them to build on what they know and can do, using activities and resources that capture their interest and imagination. However, at times, staff do not routinely participate in their conversations during activities, to further their learning to the highest level.
• Children are supported well to develop a love of books. Staff provide cosy and inviting reading areas where children handle books with care. Staff support younger children's love of books well as they follow their interest in their favourite book. Older children listen intently as staff read stories in an expressive way. Staff encourage children to participate and make predictions about what will happen next.
• Parents and carers are delighted with the setting and express how much their children enjoy attending. They speak highly of the staff and particularly value how much they have helped with the good progress children are making. For example, parents comment that the recent initiative of a parents' forum has enabled them to share their views regarding the nursery's improvement plan.
• Staff support children's mathematics with lots of opportunities to count and talk about shapes. However, at times, staff do not encourage wider maths language with older children, as opportunities are missed to support children to learn about quantity, weight and the value of number. For example, at times, staff do not extend learning to include quantity and weight as children are filling different sized pots in the garden.
• Staff provide ample opportunities for children to learn about being healthy. Children enjoy tending to the growing area and are eager to explain that they have picked the tomatoes because they were ready. Staff talk to children about healthy foods. For instance, older children enjoy a game to sort different foods that are kind to us or can make us poorly. Children eagerly explain how to much ice cream can make our teeth yellow.
• The manager undertakes regular supervisions and appraisals of staff. These help to ensure that the staff share their vision and promote new ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to better recognise and make more effective use of spontaneous opportunities to extend and deepen children's learning
• strengthen opportunities for older children to extend their understanding of wider maths language.