Limes Play And Learn

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children demonstrate positive relationships with staff and confidently talk to them about their views and thoughts. They sit with staff to listen to stories and receive cuddles from them, helping children to feel safe. Children are supported to feel valued by staff. For example, when children use chalk to draw a car on the ground outside, staff praise them and ask if they can copy what they have drawn. Children understand the routines of the day and act promptly when staff give them instructions. When children hear a tambourine, they know this means it's time to stop playing. They show a positive attitude to helping staff to tidy away toys. Children are learning how to care for the environment.

Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, children are encouraged by staff to develop their large muscles. Children are excited to join in with a 'wake up and shake up' session when they arrive. They copy staff and stamp their feet, wiggle their legs and move their hands. Children develop the muscles in their hands when, for example, staff give them tweezers to pick up small objects. They practise their hand-eye coordination when they use spades and funnels in sand to scoop and pour. These activities help children to develop the skills they need for early writing.

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

• Staff support children's early literacy skills well. For example, they ask them to think of words that begin with sounds that represent letters of the alphabet. Children who speak English as an additional language have opportunities to access books with dual languages. This helps them to have a sense of belonging in the nursery.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well by staff and the special educational needs coordinator. Targeted plans are established between parents, staff and other professionals to help meet children's individual needs.
• The provider and manager invite school teachers to see the children in the nursery before they start school. This helps children to become familiar with the person who will be caring for them. Children with SEND are taken on visits to school to see their new teacher and the environment before they start. This helps to support their emotional well-being.
• Overall, staff support children's communication and language skills well. They sing nursery rhymes with children to support their speaking skills. However, when staff ask children questions during large-group times, they do not encourage children to learn how to take turns in conversations and listen to the views of others. This results in many children shouting out the answers at the same time.
• Staff implement a curriculum that helps to build on children's learning. For example, they help children to learn about their local community. Children visit a nursing home with staff to socialise with the elderly. Staff take children to supermarkets to buy food for their snack, encouraging them to make choices about what they would like to eat.
• The provider and manager use additional funding for children effectively. This includes using some of the money to provide enhanced staffing to offer small-group activities, to help close any gaps in children's learning.
• Parents provide positive comments about the nursery. They like the family feel and how their children love attending. Staff share information with parents about their children's development. They support parents to continue children's learning at home, such as to support their behaviour and speaking skills. This helps to create a united approach to helping children develop.
• The provider and manager provide staff with opportunities to discuss their practice at meetings. Staff say that they feel supported with their well-being. However, when employing new staff, the manager and provider do not ensure that the induction process is thorough enough. Not all staff understand the expectations for supporting children during some routines of the day. For example, some staff pour children's drinks instead of them completing this task on their own.
• Staff focus on helping children to show positive behaviour. For example, when a child shows that they are going to throw a piece of play dough, staff skilfully divert their attention to sit at a table to model with the dough instead.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help children learn how to take turns in conversations and to listen to the views of others during large-group times
• strengthen the induction procedure for new staff to help them become aware of expectations for supporting children's learning during routines of the day.