Little Bears Nursery School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nurturing staff team builds strong relationships with children and their families. Effective settling-in sessions help children move from home to the nursery and from one room to the next as they progress through. Staff build strong partnerships with parents and encourage them to be a part of their children's lives in the nursery. For example, parents attend stay-and-play sessions and meet with staff to discuss their child's learning. Staff seek a range of information from parents about children's interests and development to help plan personalised learning experiences from the outset. Children arrive happy, and they separate from their parents with ease. They are eager to play and are motivated to learn.

Staff provide a range of engaging play experiences to support children's learning. They support children's literacy skills well. For example, staff read to children and encourage them to join in with phrases and words. Staff in the pre-school room support children's curiosity well as they spend lengthy time in the sand house in the garden. They introduce children to different mathematical concepts. For example, as children pour sand into bottles and other containers, staff talk about 'full,' 'empty' and 'more than'. They encourage children to measure how much sand each bottle and container has.

Children behave well. Staff speak to children with respect, which children model in their own interactions. Children are confident to express their needs. They learn to share, take turns and use good manners. Babies are very happy and content. Staff are highly responsive to their needs.

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

• Overall, management ensure clear policies and procedures are in place which staff understand. Staff complete accurate risk assessments to ensure the premises, environment and activities are safe. Staff are deployed well, which promotes the supervision of children and their safety.
• Management is dedicated to their roles. They strive to deliver high-quality care and education for children. They have a child-centred approach that ensures children's well-being, development and learning are prioritised.
• Management has established regular supervision and support for staff, which is embedded in the culture of the nursery. However, not all staff are confident in using the system to focus on individual children each week or plan consistently across the curriculum. While children make good progress, overall, toddlers do not always benefit from teaching that fully extends their learning.
• Staff sing with children, talk about what they are doing and give clear instructions to help them understand. Older children speak competently and express their views, such as what they are doing and going to do next. However, staff in the younger age group do not use questions skilfully to encourage children to think and explain their ideas. They ask questions that require answers with one word. This does not enhance children's communication and language skills as well as possible.
• The key-person system is effective. Children form secure relationships with familiar adults who understand their individual needs. Strong partnerships with parents ensure a consistent approach to children's care. Key persons regularly share information with them about children's achievements. They work closely with parents to support children's ongoing development, such as potty training. Parents speak highly of the friendly staff team. They value their open and regular communication and comment on how well staff know their children.
• Staff promote children's good health by attending to personal care needs sensitively and consistently. They provide healthy meals, encourage handwashing, and follow familiar sleep routines from home to support continuity of care, checking regularly to ensure children's safety and well-being.
• Children enjoy daily outdoor play that promotes physical development at all ages, from babies building body control to toddlers balancing and older children climbing, riding and kicking balls. Staff join in alongside them, using meaningful interactions and mathematical language, such as 'big' and 'small', to extend children's understanding.
• Children develop good personal development skills. They are very independent and confident and know to wash their hands before eating. Younger children are encouraged to feed themselves, which they manage well with a spoon. Older children very competently use a fork. Children are supported to take their shoes and socks off before sleeping. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff understanding and use of planning systems, particularly in the toddler room, so that curriculum implementation is consistent and supports even better progress for all children
• support staff to develop their questioning skills to help children extend their thinking and speaking even further.