Leap Ahead Day Nursery Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children achieve well in this friendly and purposeful nursery. They make good progress overall from their individual starting points and are well-prepared for the next stage in their learning. For example, babies are supported to build strong relationships with the staff who care for them and develop their confidence and curiosity. They enjoy the feel of the water, for instance, as they investigate how to tip and pour it to make a wheel turn and soak their toy crocodiles. Children find out about the life cycles of different animals as they observe chickens hatch or release butterflies they have seen grow from caterpillars.

Children learn to play safely and become increasingly aware of the world around them. For example, they are proud to use simple charts to help check there are no broken toys or other hazards in the outdoor area. Staff are positive and warm role models. They support children to be well behaved and kind to each other. For instance, children work together to fill and carry large buckets of water across the playground to use to 'paint' the shed in their role play. They are encouraged to be fit and active. For instance, daily dance and 'fidget finger' activities contribute both to children's healthy physical well-being and the development of hand and arm muscle control to support their later writing skills.

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

• Leaders have worked with staff to develop a curriculum that supports the systematic development of the skills, knowledge and understanding children need for their future learning. However, staff do not consistently challenge and support children to achieve their full potential through all their experiences. For example, sometimes, staff focus too much on skills children have already acquired rather than introducing new learning or encouraging them to use their creative thinking and reasoning to deepen their understanding.
• Staff build children's communication skills well. They introduce children to a wide range of carefully chosen songs and action rhymes that help build their vocabulary and appreciation of rhyme and rhythm. They regularly revisit them over time to help build lasting memories. Staff join in conversations with children when they play and at snack times and lunchtimes to model and develop their speech.
• Staff promote children's enjoyment and appreciation of books. They regularly share stories with small groups or individual children. Babies love to handle books with different textures and to lift flaps as they learn to turn pages and look closely at the illustrations. Staff use a core of selected books that build on children's experiences and helps to develop their anticipation and understanding of plots and characters.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other vulnerable learners effectively. They identify gaps in learning at an early stage. They work closely with parents and with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists, to decide the best ways forward and to implement their plans. They use additional funding in targeted ways, such as specific staff training, to meet children's needs.
• Children's good behaviour and personal development are strongly supported. Staff make good use of books and stories to help children identify and appreciate their own emotions and feelings. Staff skilfully support children who find it difficult to express and manage their own behaviour to make steady and secure improvements. Parents appreciate staff's guidance in helping their children to be happy, confident and sociable.
• Leaders are reflective and ambitious for all aspects of the nursery's development. They make good use of professional advice and training to build staff's practice and to establish the new curriculum. They are increasingly analysing and evaluating their practice to raise standards further. They strongly support the management of staff's workload and morale is high.
• Staff build strong links with parents. They share information on children's progress regularly and offer guidance and support for learning at home. Parents warmly appreciate the care and support staff offer to their children and themselves.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• focus professional development on guiding and training staff to ensure children are consistently challenged and supported to achieve their full potential throughout all their learning.