Little Angels Uni Limited T/A Plaistow Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at this well-organised and welcoming nursery. They arrive and comfortably separate from their parents. Staff greet children warmly. They model respectful interactions for children and seek children's permission before helping them. Children imitate this positive behaviour and treat each other kindly. They show that they feel at home and play harmoniously together.

Leaders have devised a broad curriculum. Staff plan interesting activities that captivate children's attention. They encourage children to adopt a 'can do' attitude and independence. For example, children learn to be responsible for their belongings.

Staff have high expectations for children's communication and language development. Children regularly join in songs and rhymes. They are quick to pay attention and engage well during story times. Children willingly choose books to sit and look through. They refer to their favourite stories during discussions with their key persons.

Children concentrate well wherever they play. They sit and spend time painting, drawing and tracing. Staff provide good opportunities for children to practise correct toothbrushing. They spend time talking to children about dental hygiene.

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

• Staff provide engaging opportunities for children to learn to name their emotions. For example, children learn to name, explore and express their different feelings using colours after listening to a story about a friendly 'mixed up' monster.
• Staff promote children's developing communication and language skills exceptionally well. They provide a running commentary of children's actions. Staff name objects and emphasise key words for babies to copy. Children quickly build their vocabulary. They confidently speak in short phrases and sentences. Children describe toys by their colour, shape and size. Staff understand how to support children who speak English as an additional language. For example, staff learn key words in children's home language to aid communication.
• Mealtimes are sociable, and all children sit together with staff to eat. They enjoy the variety of nutritious food. Children developing their independence is one of the key priorities of the nursery. Staff plan many opportunities throughout the day for children to practise the activities they can carry out for themselves. For example, after mealtimes, children are expected to clear their plate and tidy their chairs.
• Children build good physical skills. They enjoy travelling and balancing across wooden planks. They develop good coordination as they manoeuvre ride-on and pedal cars. Young children develop strong small-muscle control as they trace around shapes and use scissors to cut dough.
• Staff promote children's early counting skills actively. Children count their leaps as they jump in and out of shapes they have drawn in the outdoor playground. Staff equip the areas with a range of real-life items, including metal pots, pans, wooden spoons and real vegetables.
• Partnership with parents is good. Staff involve parents in their children's learning. They invite parents to meetings to share children's learning and development. Parents share their children's achievements with staff. Staff include these achievements in children's 'care books'.
• Overall, staff promote hygiene and children's physical health appropriately. Children have thorough handwashing routines. Staff consistently clean and sanitise all surfaces. However, occasionally, staff do not make the best use of opportunities to promote children's awareness of how germs spread, such as when children with colds are coughing and do not follow the nursery's good hygiene practices.
• The manager is a very supportive leader who values her staff team. She ensures they attend training and share good practice with other members of the team. For example, some staff have attended signing classes and shared their skills with colleagues. This has benefitted children who need additional support to communicate.
• The nursery's special educational needs coordinator ensures that children making less than expected progress are swiftly identified. She offers sensitive support to parents and ensures children receive targeted interventions that help them make the best progress possible.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• make the best possible use of opportunities to improve children's understanding of the various ways germs can spread so they display behaviour that promotes good health when they have coughs and colds.