Leapfrog Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children confidently separate from their parents when they arrive at the nursery. They are motivated to learn and enjoy exploring a variety of interesting activities. For instance, they develop a good understanding of the world when they plant and look after fruit, vegetables and flowers. Children take pride in their work and enjoy taking the produce they have grown home.

Children play happily together and learn to be respectful to staff and their friends. They are provided with a caring and nurturing environment and are well looked after in safe surroundings. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Children progress well because staff plan a rich curriculum. The staff consider ways to ensure all children's interests are incorporated into their learning. For instance, children learned about mini-beasts through a variety of activities.

Children understand rules and expectations. They are supported in their learning by staff who are good role models. Adults act quickly to diffuse any disagreements. They support children to consider the effect of their behaviour and show empathy for others. This enhances the nurturing environment.

Children develop good physical skills. For example, they successfully learn how to ride wheeled toys at high speed and safely climb on a large wooden train in the garden.

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

• Staff enthusiastically read stories and demonstrate a love of books. Children enjoy listening to stories and creating their own. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the staff have created a 'Routine Book' which they use to help children feel safe and secure. Children can take this book home to share with their parents.
• Staff provide children with good-quality care and education. The manager regularly updates the staff with information regarding the children. All staff know the children really well. They have a caring and considerate approach and form positive relationships with all the children.
• The nursery provides a nurturing and caring environment. Staff support children well to learn what is expected of them. For example, they help them learn to take turns using a large sand timer, to encourage children to share resources.
• Staff are positive role models and have high expectations for children to succeed. They provide children with an ambitious curriculum and skilfully incorporate their interests into activities. For example, in response to children's interest in 'bugs', they encourage children to learn about the features of living caterpillars.
• Staff support children's independence very well and children develop a wide range of skills they need for the future. They learn to dress themselves and develop a great interest in drawing and making marks. This will help prepare them for moving on to school.
• Staff skilfully extend children's mathematical development to develop and extend their good emerging understanding of number. Staff model counting in sequence and use repetition to support number recognition, for instance when children look for and count plastic worms hidden in porridge oats.
• Since the last inspection, the manager and staff have improved their partnership with parents and other local early years provision, for example to identify children's starting points and support their move to school. However, they do not consistently communicate with parents to further reduce any gaps in children's learning and development.
• Staff provide children with a wide range of activities that motivate them to explore and learn. The curriculum is well planned and ambitious. Staff have a solid understanding of what they want children to learn. However, they do not consistently support all children to develop their concentration.
• Staff consistently engage in children's play. They support children's communication and language well, particularly during small group activities. However, staff do not consider ways to further develop this aspect of children's learning when children play independently.
• The manager supports staff's professional development well. However, she does not coach staff to further improve how they support all children to persist at activities and develop their concentration.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• coach and support staff to evaluate and further improve how they encourage all children to get involved in activities to develop concentration further
• consider ways to work with other agencies involved with children to further support their communication and language development
• strengthen partnerships with parents to further reduce any gaps in children's learning and development.