Li'l Champs

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm welcome from staff as they arrive at the nursery. This helps them to settle quickly. Children follow the familiar daily routine with ease, demonstrating that they feel safe and secure. Children talk proudly about their family photos that are displayed in the role-play area. This creates a sense of belonging. Children confidently access resources during free play and seek help from adults when they need it. Staff are good role models and have high expectations for children. They gently remind children about positive behaviour. Staff promote independence as they encourage children to pour their own drinks at snack time and to fasten their own coats when playing outside. Many children who attend the nursery speak English as an additional language. Staff speak a range of languages and use their skills to communicate effectively with children and their families. They provide good support to help develop children's understanding and use of spoken English.

Children benefit from lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. They take part in daily exercise sessions with enthusiasm. They climb, balance, run and jump in the outdoor area, developing their gross-motor skills. Children squeal with delight as they use the small muscles in their fingers and hands to pop bubble wrap in the sensory room.

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

• Staff have a good understanding of what children know and can do. They develop a curriculum based on children's interests and what they need to learn next. All children make good progress in relation to their individual starting points.
• Children are inspired to learn new things as staff plan an exciting range of activities. For example, they explore patterns as they use celery heads and paint to print. Overall, activities are well matched to children's abilities. However, at times, staff do not consider the development levels of younger children during group activities and they lose interest.
• Children are enthralled as they listen to staff read stories and sing rhymes that they have chosen. Staff change the tone and volume of their voice when storytelling. Children excitedly join in with repeated phrases from familiar stories. This helps to develop their love of reading and understanding of language.
• Children's mathematical development is supported well. Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to practise counting, sorting and matching as they play alongside them. Staff model words, such as heavy when lifting tyres outside to look for worms. This helps to develop children's understanding and use of mathematical language.
• Children learn about their own and others native countries, religions, and cultures. Parents provide different traditional foods for children to taste and share photographs of family celebrations. Staff take children on daffodil walks in the local area. This helps children to develop an understanding of their own community and the wider world.
• Children learn about healthy lifestyles as staff provide a range of healthy snacks and talk to them about looking after their teeth.
• Staff are proficient at supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They use additional funding to meet children's individual needs. Staff work in partnership with parents and other agencies to ensure that children and families get the help they need.
• Staff have established good relationships with local schools. They take children on regular walks to help them become familiar with their new school. Children learn to recognise and write their names. This helps to ensure that they are well prepared for the next phase of their education.
• Parents are complimentary about the nursery and say they are happy with the progress their children make. They appreciate the information that staff share with them through an online app. Parents say that this helps them to support learning at home.
• Managers provide opportunities for staff to engage in professional development. This helps to develop the quality of teaching. Currently, managers are introducing different opportunities to support children to use their imagination skills. However, this is not yet fully embedded. Therefore, children do not always develop the ability to confidently express their thoughts and ideas.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• adapt planning to provide activities that support the development levels and participation of all children, particularly younger children
• support staff to continue to develop and embed the use of different opportunities to enhance children's imaginative skills.