Little Acorns Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely happy and settled at this highly nurturing and caring nursery. The inspirational leaders and staff are dedicated to their roles. They work tirelessly to provide the very best care and education for all the children. Leaders and staff are passionate about their whole nursery community. They aim to do the very best they can for all children, families and staff.

Leaders work alongside staff to create a unique, ambitious and meticulously sequenced curriculum and learning environment, which inspires children's curiosity and promotes child-led learning. Daily discussions between leaders and staff about children's progress help to shape and evolve the learning experience for each child. This means all children, especially those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are highly engaged with their play and make superb progress from their individual starting points.

There are consistently highly positive and warm relationships between staff and children. Staff and children clearly enjoy their time together, and there is lots of shared laughter throughout the day. Staff are excellent role models and treat children with kindness, patience and respect. Children reflect this behaviour in their relationships with each other. Children consistently work cooperatively with their peers. They independently organise resources and games, working together to create the environment they want. They are kind, friendly and polite towards others.

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

• Leaders are exceptionally skilled and have a deep understanding of the children and families they support. They have a clear vision for the nursery that is eagerly shared and embedded by the whole staff team. Staff make the most of the nursery's location on a working farm to ensure that children learn first-hand about the natural world around them. Children enjoy visiting the animals on the farm and have an exceptional knowledge of how the environment changes throughout the year. For example, children explain the colour changes, animals and insects they see and the abundance of leaves and plants.
• Leaders and staff are passionate about encouraging children to develop an early love of reading and books. They have developed a child and adult library that children are eager to use and share with parents. Children pick up books and share them throughout the day. They cuddle up with staff and enjoy listening to a variety of stories, building up on their own interests. This supports children to make the best possible progress with their early reading skills.
• Staff have in-depth knowledge of each child. Every member of the team has an excellent understanding of each child's precise next steps in learning. This means that every moment becomes an opportunity to enthuse and engage children in learning. For example, pre-school children use their interest in dinosaurs to dig for bones. They talk about how they carefully dust the bones with brushes, before removing the bones, measuring and comparing the sizes. They use tape measures to decide which bone is longer and shorter. They read the numbers, and compare them. Staff introduce new words and help children to remember previous words and learning, such as compare, environment and palaeontologist. They ask open-ended questions to aid the children's curiosity and learning. The quality of teaching is consistently exceptional.
• Children's independence flourishes through thoughtfully designed routines. For instance, all children, even the very youngest pour their own drinks at meal time and children are encouraged to progress from using spoons to mastering knives and forks. These achievements instil pride and equip children with essential life skills.
• Assessment is used exceptionally well, children are tracked on entry and at key points to ensure staff swiftly identify any emerging gaps. Interventions are then put into place to ensure children quickly catch up. Staff advocate for children in a determined manner and are relentless in their quest to secure the support that some children need to make the very best progress.
• Parents speak incredibly highly of the support they receive. They value both formal and informal discussions with staff about their child's progress. Staff provide a wealth of advice and support parents to contribute consistently to their child's learning at home.
• Staff are incredibly well supported. Leaders work alongside staff, coaching and mentoring them. The long-standing, experienced team of staff are encouraged to support and learn from each other. Professional development is identified for each member of the team. Staff say they can see the impact their training has on the learning experiences of each child. This support helps to ensure that the quality of teaching is consistently outstanding across the whole team.