Learning Steps Day Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

Leaders and staff identify gaps in children's development and take action to put suitable support in place. They work closely with parents and carers and other professionals to devise suitable plans that outline what children need to help them to make progress. Staff understand children's needs and implement these plans into children's play. They liaise with external agencies to gain further support and advice on meeting the needs of children. Leaders regularly review plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and use a graduated approach to help children to achieve their specific targets.

Leaders have made changes to the way they support children who speak English as an additional language. They use online tools to support communication between families. This ensures that they have the necessary information about children before they start at the nursery and can continue to share relevant information with parents. Staff have received suitable training that has improved their knowledge of how to support children who speak English as an additional language.

Leaders ensure that any funding they receive to provide extra support for children is used in ways that make a difference to them. For example, they fund extra hours for staff so that children can be cared for on a smaller ratio. This means children receive more focused support and targeted interactions from staff.

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders recognise the need to provide a high-quality curriculum. They have worked diligently to make changes since their last inspection. These changes have started to drive the quality of teaching to a higher level. This is having a positive impact on children's learning. However, this is still in the early stages, and therefore, teaching is not consistently tailored to meet children's individual needs and stages of development. In addition, staff do not yet understand how to enhance children's learning even further. For example, as children start to lose interest in the activities on offer, staff struggle to keep them engaged and children move on to something else. This disrupts children's learning.

Children have opportunities to engage in a variety of adult-led and child-initiated activities. They show enjoyment as staff join them in their play. Staff describe what children are doing and ask them questions to initiate conversation. However, there is a lack of open-ended questioning throughout children's play and routines, which means children often answer with limited language. Staff do not always encourage children to think further and develop their own thoughts and ideas during their interactions. However, there are positive relationships between staff and children, which help children to develop their confidence and sense of self. Children learn to manage their emotions and enjoy spending time with their friends. Staff plan daily routines to enable times for children to be sociable. They teach children how to treat one another with kindness and respect.

Children enjoy spending time outdoors, where they develop their physical skills. They learn to navigate space, use wheeled vehicles and improve their hand-eye coordination as they throw balls into a hoop. Children enjoy matching coloured rings to cones and filling and emptying different-sized containers with water.

Staff have developed their understanding of assessment and are becoming skilled at identifying what children need to learn next through continuous observation. This is particularly prioritised for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. As a result, staff set appropriate learning targets for them to progress on to.

Achievement: Needs attention

Children do make some progress from their starting points and have opportunities to practise the new skills they learn. However, due to some weaknesses in teaching, opportunities for children to develop new skills even further are sometimes limited. As a result, children do not yet make as much progress as they are capable of.

The changes that have been made since the last inspection have had a significant impact on the achievements of children who speak English as an additional language. These children learn to increase their vocabulary and become competent and proficient in using the English language. This helps children to build their confidence and become able communicators. Consequently, this contributes to children being prepared for their transition on to school.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Children are familiar with routines. They know what happens at each part of the day and demonstrate confidence as they move through the environment. Through the positive relationships formed between staff and children, children understand what is expected of them. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and often remind them of nursery rules. This helps children to take turns and play cooperatively. Staff provide extra support to children who require it to understand the rules. They stay close to them and use gestures and visual aids to increase children's understanding of expectations.

Staff help children to develop their concentration skills and persevere in tasks. For example, as children learn the skill of pushing pedals on a bicycle to travel, staff pay attention to them and provide continuous encouragement to practise and improve this new ability. Staff praise children's efforts, which offers further encouragement.

Leaders understand the importance of regular attendance. They contact parents and carers swiftly when children fail to attend and encourage them to bring their children to nursery. This helps children to establish a routine of attending an education setting ready for their move to school.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure as they approach staff for reassurance and help when they need it. The key-person system is effective in supporting positive relationships between staff and children. Staff recognise when children feel tired and help them to find a suitable place to rest in comfort. Staff help to provide an environment where children can develop their confidence and independence. Children recognise when they are thirsty and freely access fresh drinking water. Staff encourage them to pour their own drinks, providing support if needed. This helps children to develop a secure sense of emotional wellbeing.

Leaders implement robust security procedures for dropping off and collecting children to ensure that unauthorised people cannot enter the building without staff being aware. A strict procedure for visitors being on the premises adds to the assured safety of children.

Staff generally implement appropriate hygiene practices across different parts of the nursery day. However, there are times when staff do not ensure that these procedures are fully implemented. For example, children share cutlery they have previously put in their mouths, and staff sometimes fail to wash their hands after wiping children's noses. This means that any illnesses can spread more quickly.

Staff encourage healthy eating. Children sit together at mealtimes and learn to be sociable with others. Staff stay close to children who require extra support, helping them to gradually follow the same routines as others. Children have daily access to the outdoors, and staff encourage them to be active. Opportunities to be in the fresh air and learn how to move their bodies in different ways promote children's emotional wellbeing and physical health.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Leaders understand the nursery's context and the needs of the children and families who attend. They have taken significant steps to make changes since the last inspection that have had a positive impact on the experiences for children. Leaders understand there is more to do to raise the quality of teaching in the nursery even further. They reflect on the overall practice so that further areas for improvement are identified swiftly and actioned.

Leaders supervise staff regularly through room observations and one-to-one meetings. They identify professional development opportunities for staff, based on the children they care for. They ensure that all mandatory training is up to date and monitor whether other training staff complete is having an impact on practice. This has enabled leaders to identify where staff still require further development to enhance the experiences offered to children. Leaders consider the wellbeing of staff and ensure they are supported to carry out their roles effectively.

Leaders have worked hard to improve their partnerships with parents and carers, particularly adapting ways they communicate to ensure they have the information they need. Leaders welcome ideas from parents and value their contribution to their children's learning. This is evident in parents' positive comments about the staff and the information they receive on a daily basis.