Little Adventurers Day Nursery Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly into this homely nursery where they are treated as part of a large family. Managers and staff have worked hard to create a home-from-home environment with soft furnishings and other homely features. Children are very happy in the nursery. Babies develop an excellent relationship with their key person. They enjoy listening to songs and rhymes. Some children appreciate cosy time with their key person when they first arrive in the morning. Parents comment that staff go above and beyond for their children. They say that staff really know their children well. The curriculum is ambitious, and managers ensure that children develop the skills they need for the next stage in their learning.

Children learn how to keep themselves safe. Staff involve children in a range of everyday experiences, such as trimming the bushes in the garden. They learn to use a range of tools safely under the careful supervision of staff. Children behave well. Staff teach children about the routines and expectations of the nursery. For example, children line up to wash their hands for lunch and then sit at the table. Staff remind them of the rules and expectations. Children respond well, for instance, as staff remind them that they go 'down' the slide and quickly adapt what they are doing.

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

• The nursery is at the heart of the community, and children visit a range of community groups. For example, they visit a local care home and engage in activities with them. Managers have a superb relationship with the on-site hub. They work together exceptionally well to provide additional support for families and the community. For example, they now run a community market every week to provide cheaper fruit and vegetables.
• Staff place a strong focus on developing children's good health. They have recently organised open events focusing on healthy eating. Staff also work well with dental health nurses and have reviewed their menu following advice from this team. For example, starters have replaced most desserts on the menu. Now children enjoy starters such as cucumber and houmous.
• The curriculum is generally well sequenced. Staff have thought carefully about the skills that they want children to learn over time, particularly in relation to independence and mealtimes. However, they have not fully considered the order in which children learn about letters and the sounds they make. As a result, not all planning supports children's age and stage of development. Some children are learning about this before they have the necessary knowledge and skills.
• Children are engaged in their learning. For example, older children concentrate well as they play in the water, filling and emptying containers. Staff support children well, introducing mathematical terms, such as 'full' and 'empty'. Younger children thoroughly enjoy sharing their favourite books with staff. They turn the pages and recall many key events and phrases.
• Children develop good relationships with other children. They show a growing awareness of the needs of their friends. This is evident when children play on the climbing frame and slide. They wait patiently until it is their turn. Some children crawl along the top of the climbing frame to the slide next to it. They do so with caution, making sure other children have space to pass them.
• Managers support all children well, overall. They identify what children need to work on and plan activities to extend their learning further. They work well with a range of professionals to get children the support that they need. Children in receipt of funding make very good progress.
• Managers ensure that training is precisely focused on raising children's achievement even further. For example, staff have recently attended training on different strategies to promote children's communication, such as sign language. This has had a highly positive impact as children are beginning to use some signs as they communicate with staff and join in with singing.
• Managers monitor the impact of teaching on children's learning. They observe practice and identify how it fits into their curriculum. Managers usually monitor any new initiatives. However, on some occasions, this is not swift enough to identify minor weaknesses in practice. As a result, some new initiatives, such as mathematics before lunch, do not support all children's levels of development.
• Staff have an excellent relationship with parents. Parents are at the heart of what the nursery does. The nursery has used different methods of communication since opening and involve parents in helping them to find methods that work for them. As a result, parents find the current electronic communication keeps them up to date with what their children are learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the order in which children develop their literacy skills to ensure it builds progressively and supports their learning
• identify and address minor weaknesses in teaching to help children make even more progress.