Little Angels Day Nursery & Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children love attending Little Angels Nursery. They enter with smiles on their faces, and even the youngest children settle down to activities quickly. The strong values are brought alive in what the nursery provides. It is a nursery that helps children to be courageous, creative, respectful and valued. Leaders have ensured that all adults uphold the highest expectations and aspirations. Children like to talk about what they are learning and what they know, such as about winter. They investigate the Arctic world and eat fruit during snack time.

Adults are wonderful role models for children. They show them how to be kind and respect others. Children are very well behaved. Consequently, the nursery is a purposeful place to learn. Life is enhanced considerably by the wide range of activities to engage in beyond the classroom, such as exploring and celebrating life in London. The school benefits from a covered outdoor play area, which is used all year round, to enhance the learning, resilience and curiosity of the children. This provides an essential opportunity to explore and encourages risk taking within a safe environment, as well as promoting high-quality opportunities for large-scale physical activities. Parents are extremely happy with the school and say their children thrive and that the provision has been 'life changing.' They receive regular information about their children's learning and are particularly appreciative of the constant stream of photographs they receive, which keeps them fully up to date with what their children are doing.

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

• Leaders at all levels, as well as staff, deliver an innovative and ambitious curriculum to all children. They are committed to ensuring that every child who attends, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are offered the best foundation for their future education. They are on the road to making this happen successfully.
• Leaders draw on the best early years research and practice to inform their curriculum, and their practice has been used as a model by early years educators. In each area of learning, the curriculum is exceptionally well designed, with a strong focus on healthy eating and personal development. It gets to the heart of what young children need to know and in what order. Staff are working to ensure that the curriculum enables all children to build firmly on what they already know and can do. Leaders value their staff. They prioritise staff's ongoing training to enable them to become experts in how to deliver the curriculum. This has made a significant and substantial contribution to the quality of education that children receive. As a result of ongoing, high-quality staff training, coupled with a purposefully planned curriculum, children's achievement is very good. Children are well prepared for their next steps in education, and because the provision is so well integrated, both between the rooms and the local feeder schools, transition is smooth and highly effective.
• Staff listen carefully to what children say, and they observe exactly what children do. Staff check children's learning carefully. Most of them know just when to step in and when to step back. Consequently, children develop their confidence to try out new and challenging activities. The provision is a hive of activity and caters well for these young children and babies. Staff play alongside children and then make the most of every opportunity for learning. Babies are exceptionally well supported. Staff working with children of this age group are knowledgeable and focus on developing very close bonds with them. Babies demonstrate their attachment to all staff as they wait for their key person to return from getting nappies. Staff focus specifically on what they want children to learn. For example, they provide a range of opportunities to support babies as they take their first steps.
• Children relish learning to count while playing with the play dough or engaging in painting activities. They love to listen and join in with the songs that staff sing with them. A wide range of interesting and exciting activities helps children to explore their environment. They listen to the sounds around them. They run, climb and learn to express themselves creatively. They learn new skills and deepen their understanding of the world around them. Most staff seize every opportunity to use their interactions with children skilfully to develop their communication and language, although this is still an ongoing development of staff training. This includes children who speak English as an additional language. Adults are quick to build on children's interests and curiosity. They expertly and sensitively add to and reinforce new vocabulary. Children quickly find their voice, comforted in the knowledge that they will always be heard, and their comments are displayed for all staff to be able to refer to.
• The school day is built around books, songs and rhymes. The enjoyment of reading and storytelling is a prominent feature of school life. Children gravitate towards adults to listen to a story. They were often seen initiating storytelling by taking a book to an adult to share with them and their friends. Staff draw on children's increasing vocabulary and knowledge of the language of stories. They receive additional music and drama sessions, where they practise their growing knowledge and understanding of stories as they play with puppets and props. For example, children delight in acting out the stories of traditional tales. Children also enjoy making up their own versions of the stories in which they have been immersed.
• Children in receipt of funding make superb progress. Managers and staff use funding effectively to give children opportunities that they may not ordinarily access. For example, some funding has been used to give children access to coaching sessions aimed at supporting their physical development. This supports children who have fewer opportunities to develop their physical skills at home and helps to strengthen different muscle groups.
• Children are well prepared for the world around them. Little Angels proudly celebrates its diversity. Children, families and staff are able to share their knowledge and understanding of religious festivals and events, such as Eid, Chinese New Year, Diwali, Black History Month, Christmas and Easter, learning with and from one another. Children know that they have a right to talk, and they have a right to be listened to. All this helps children to recognise and respect difference. When learning about the New Year for Trees, they recognise the connections with their work on seasons.
• Staff develop excellent relationships with parents. They gather highly detailed information from parents before children start. For example, they find out about any concerns parents may have about their children starting nursery. Staff go out of their way to provide reassurance as children settle. They share information about children's learning with parents. Parents feel that staff are always on hand to provide advice and support. They value the resource packs they can borrow to support their children's varying developmental stages, such as toilet training, healthy eating and dental hygiene.
• Staff, with the support of the school's special educational needs coordinators, are particularly effective at identifying and supporting children with SEND. They expertly use their knowledge of each child to put just the right strategies in place to make sure that children get the support they need. Children with SEND, as well as those from families in challenging situations, blossom and succeed alongside their peers. These children achieve well and are fully involved in the life of the nursery.
• The personal development of children is carefully nurtured. Children, as well as adults, can be heard extolling the nursery's values, such as 'being kind and helpful' and 'everybody is important', when they play with each other and when spotting characters in stories that are not sharing or saying sorry. Staff give sensitive support and guidance to help children talk about and manage their feelings. All adults lead by example. Senior leaders hold staff fully to account for their work, and staff feel exceptionally well supported with their workload and well-being. Staff are very proud to work at the nursery. They say they are all part of the Little Angels' family.