Little Angels Pre-Prep School and Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are extremely happy in this warm and nurturing environment. When they arrive in the morning, staff greet them with a smile, so that they feel immediately welcome. Parents speak highly of the warmth of the staff and the regular communication between home and nursery.

Staff prepare children well for the next stage of their learning and support their independence. Children put on their aprons, take off their coats and serve themselves at the table. Opportunities such as these help children to develop valuable skills for their future.

Staff build strong bonds with the children and know them very well. This helps children to feel safe and secure at nursery.

Children focus well on the variety of activities on offer. They play well with their peers, taking turns and inventing role play together. This helps children to make progress in their development, having fun as they go.

Children join in enthusiastically with many songs that staff sing throughout the day. Children listen with enjoyment to the range of stories that staff read to them. This supports children in their language development as well as encouraging them to develop a love of books.

Children know what is expected of them and behave well. Children learn to share and take turns well. They pass the bowls around the table as they serve themselves and take turns as they play matching pairs games. This helps children to develop patience and empathy for others.

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

• Staff immerse toddlers and pre-schoolers in a wide range of vocabulary throughout the day. They skilfully develop children's language as they play. For example, during role play, children pretend to cook with fruits and vegetables. Staff use this opportunity to introduce new words, such as 'vines' and 'stem', to the children. This ensures that children develop a rich vocabulary in these rooms.
• The quality of language used by staff in the baby room is more variable. Most of the time, staff use repetition well to develop babies' vocabulary, such as when a member of staff exclaims 'down, down, down' as a baby slides down the slide. However, occasionally, staff do not use high-quality interactions with babies. For example, during lunchtime some staff simply give babies instructions rather than using this opportunity to develop their language skills.
• Staff plan many opportunities to encourage children's physical development. Children enjoy activities, such as painting with a pipette and picking up small objects with tweezers, as they strengthen the muscles in their hands. They ride bicycles, climb up the climbing frame, slide down the slide and enjoy a variety of other good opportunities to improve their gross motor skills.
• Leaders think carefully about how to support children to develop their creativity. Children in the pre-school compose lyrics to match music enthusiastically, during their weekly session with a musician. Babies and toddlers move their bodies to music as they use a variety of musical instruments. Activities such as these help children to develop their listening skills and begin to identify rhythm.
• Children speak a rich variety of languages. Staff support children well by communicating with them in their home language where appropriate. This helps children with their language development and ensures that they feel pride in any other languages that they speak.
• Staff quickly identify any children who may need extra support to achieve their potential. They put targeted support in place and involve external professionals when necessary. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well through partnership work with parents and others involved in children's care and learning.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Parents speak highly of the support provided by the nursery when it was closed due to COVID-19. They appreciate the huge effort that leaders went to in providing home learning resources and regular video calls with them and their child. This supported children to continue to make progress while the nursery was closed. Parents are very positive about the care that staff provide for their children, describing the nursery as like a 'second home'.
• Overall, leaders put effective systems of supervision in place to support the well-being of staff. Staff feel valued by the supportive manager. However, there are some inconsistencies in the quality of teaching for communication and language which have not been fully addressed.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that the communication and language curriculum is delivered to a consistently high standard at all times
• ensure that staff supervision arrangements address any inconsistencies in teaching.