Little Achievers Nursery in the Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff understand the importance of building strong and meaningful relationships with children. Staff take the time to develop positive relationships with children. Consequently, children are confident to explore the environment and engage fully in their learning. Babies happily go to staff for comfort and reassurances when new people are in the room. Ultimately children feel safe and secure in their surroundings. Children are inquisitive. They confidently talk to the inspector to find out what she is doing.

Staff are generally ambitious for children and want them to succeed. They know when to step in to provide additional support. For example, staff help the children to build complex towers out of large building blocks. This helps children to persevere and achieve their personal goals. Children develop a love of reading from an early age. This is because staff regularly read stories to them. Staff show children that books can be used to explore ideas and gather information as well as reading for pleasure.

Staff support children to develop their independence skills from an early age. Children confidently put on their coats, attempt to fasten them, and help tidy away the resources. Staff help children to develop their self-care skills. Children see to their own toileting needs, pour their own drinks and help to prepare snacks. This enables children to prepare for the next stage in their learning.

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

• The managers and staff demonstrate the passion and determination to make further improvements. For example, they are in the process of reorganising some rooms to enhance the learning opportunities available to children. Managers have carefully considered the needs of the children and consulted with staff. This ensures that the needs of individual children are met.
• The managers and staff have created a balanced and sequenced curriculum which is designed to support children to build on prior learning. However, occasionally, some staff do not consistently implement the ambitious intentions through all aspects of children's learning experiences. Consequently, at times, some children do not engage fully with the experiences and move on quickly.
• Staff are skilled communicators. They regularly introduce new words to children, such as 'dab', 'sprinkle' and 'squeeze', to extend children's vocabulary. Staff use repetition effectively to help children use new words and to understand their meaning. For example, staff say 'dab, dab, dab' when babies are painting to describe what they are doing. This supports children's acquisition of language.
• Staff have generally high expectations for children's behaviour. They communicate with children the setting rules and expectations. Consequently, children learn to share resources and to take turns. However, staff do not always effectively explain to children why the rules and expectations are in place. Therefore, some children do not always learn how their behaviour impacts others around them.
• Staff make learning about mathematics fun. They use exciting activities, for example using candles to help children to count, identify numbers and talk about more and less than. Staff use songs and rhymes to introduce younger children to counting. Consequently, children develop an awareness of early mathematical concepts that support future learning.
• Staff show children how to pull themselves up on furniture to practise their walking skills. Older children learn to use large apparatus, for example climbing frames and wheeled resources, with control. Babies giggle in delight as they fill buckets and tip them over to make sandcastles. This helps children to strengthen their muscles and develop coordination.
• Staff help children to develop an awareness of good hygiene and health. Children know to wash their hands before meals and after going to the bathroom. Staff carefully guide discussions at lunchtime about healthy eating and oral health. Children actively engage in these discussions, which prompts their thinking on how to remain healthy.
• Staff build strong partnerships with parents. Parents are well informed and included in their children's learning. Staff collaborate with professionals to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This helps children to get the right support. Partnerships with schools support the transition process for children moving into the next stage of their learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum so that it is ambitious for all children continuously and meets their needs
• support staff to have a consistent approach in managing children's behaviour.