Little Beaver Childcare Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy their time at this welcoming nursery. They happily leave their parents at the door and quickly settle with their chosen activity. Children are developing the skills that they need to be independent. For example, during lunchtime, pre-school children volunteer to collect everyone's name-cards. Children set up the tables themselves, getting their own plate, cup and cutlery. They take turns to serve themselves food and drink. Toddlers recognise the change in routine and readily wash their hands before lunch. Staff encourage toddlers to wipe their own nose and put their dirty tissues in the bin. This helps children learn to do things for themselves.

Children embrace outdoor play. They use their muscles as they push themselves along in bubble cars and use wheelbarrows to transport blocks across the playground. Other children develop their coordination skills as they navigate around the play equipment while pushing dolls in pushchairs. Staff supervise toddlers as they safely climb the large climbing apparatus. Toddlers develop their confidence as they take care to climb the steps, cross the bridge and come back down the slide. Pre-school children create their own balance beams from wooden planks and crates. They stretch out their arms as they walk carefully across the plank and jump off the end. Staff praise them for their achievements. This motivates children further as they make stepping stones from wooden blocks so they can jump from one to the other.

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

• The provider has taken a proactive approach in response to the last inspection. The manager has ensured that appropriate changes have been made to the nursery. This includes extra handwashing facilities, improvements to sleep areas and additional security measures. Staff have been supported to gain a robust understanding of safeguarding, including the 'Prevent' duty guidance. This has had a positive impact as children's safety is now assured.
• Staff are good role models and encourage children to share, take turns and use their manners. For example, toddlers watch as staff hold water buckets for children to dip their watering cans into. Toddlers copy this and hold the buckets for their friends as they water plants. When children have minor disputes with others during play, staff intervene and explain they could hurt others. Children receive regular praise for their good behaviour.
• Staff provide opportunities to develop children's small muscles. This helps them to practise the skills that they need for early writing. Babies enjoy using their fingers and brushes to make marks in lotion. Staff introduce language such as 'squeeze' and 'squelch' as babies rub their hands together. Toddlers practise using tweezers to pick up pom-poms. Staff show children how to position their hands and fingers to enable them to better hold the tweezers. Pre-school children use tools to scoop mud from a bucket. They use their fingers to stir the mud around and proudly show staff the mud meatballs that they have made.
• Overall, staff deployment is effective. Staff engage with children during their play to build on what they want children to learn next and develop their interests further. However, on occasion, the deployment of staff means that children have less support from staff to consistently extend their play and learning.
• Staff provide activities to encourage children's creativity. For example, pre-school children enjoy role play. They listen as staff model how to make an appointment with the doctor and children copy on their toy phones. They giggle as they wrap each other in bandages and stick plasters on dolls. They tell staff why they are ill and what will make them better. Children talk to each other about the care they are giving the dolls. This helps to develop their social skills.
• Staff support children's love of books. Babies cosy up to staff and they look at board books together. They babble to staff as if they are in a back-and-forth conversation while pointing at the pictures. Babies carefully turn the pages and eagerly lift the flaps on the page to see what is hiding underneath. However, occasionally, children's learning is disrupted. For example, pre-school story time is interrupted by noise from other children who are playing. Children stop listening to the story and are distracted by what is going on around them. This disrupts children's learning and their ability to fully listen and engage in the activity.
• Staff ensure that mathematical terms are embedded in children's play. Children learn about colour, shape, position and number. For example, toddlers work with staff to find blue toy dinosaurs, which toddlers eagerly line up in a row. Pre-school children connect tubes to make a marble run. They carefully consider why one leg is shorter than another and persevere trying different tubes to make them the same length. Staff encourage children to use marbles to try out their structures.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deploy staff more effectively at all times throughout the day, in order to provide consistent and purposeful interactions for children that build on their existing skills and knowledge
• organise story time with particular reference to the pre-school room to ensure that children are able to fully engage and do not have their learning disrupted.