Little Blossom Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff enthusiastically greet children as they arrive. Children have a strong sense of belonging within this warm and welcoming nursery. Staff support children to find their pictures on labelled coat pegs. Children hang up their belongings, smile and say, 'It's me'. This also helps to promote children's confidence and independence. Children build positive relationships with key staff. For example, very young children cuddle up to staff as they listen to stories. They regularly return to their key person to say, 'Hello', before they confidently toddle off to explore the environment again. All children demonstrate that they are emotionally secure and feel safe. They are settled, happy and behave very well.

Staff recognise the importance of developing children's understanding of what makes them unique and their family backgrounds. Staff plan a wide range of opportunities to promote diversity within the nursery and beyond, which is embedded within the nursery curriculum. For example, staff plan experiences to help children learn about festivals and beliefs, such as Ramadan, Easter and Chinese New Year. Children thoroughly enjoy an outing to China Town, to expose them to first-hand experiences of cultural foods, costumes and decorations. Furthermore, children share books with parents in their home languages, to help to celebrate the languages they also hear and speak at home. Children's experiences help to promote their sense of self wonderfully.

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

• The manager highlights the importance of developing children's character and resilience, to help to ensure that children are well prepared for the next stages in their learning, including their eventual move to school. This is realised through the strong shared values, policies and procedures followed by all staff.
• The manager acts with integrity to ensure that all children receive their full free early years funding entitlement. She understands the importance of providing all children with a good start to their early education. She recognises the importance of developing a curriculum that provides all children with rich experiences, in particular those children with gaps in their learning. All children make good progress.
• Overall, partnership with parents is good. Parents say that their children make good progress. They appreciate planned outings, as well as the support staff give children to develop their character and appreciation of diversity. Parents say they welcome stay-and-play sessions to discuss their children's progress. However, staff do not always ensure that all parents know who their child's key person is, to strengthen relationships further and provide even more support for children. Despite this, parents say that they are very happy with the 'excellent care' provided.
• Children receive a good start to their early education. Staff implement a sequenced curriculum to meet children's individual learning needs. For example, staff recognise and support young children's patterns in their play. They provide opportunities for children to repeat and practise different actions, such as young children concentrating as they fill and empty damp sand and roll large vehicles back and forth.
• Staff know their key children very well. They successfully explain children's cultural backgrounds and what they want children to learn next. They plan opportunities based on children's interests, to help to promote children's positive attitudes to their learning. For example, staff plan outings to farms and provide a range of small-word farm animals and animal books to help children to engage in activities provided.
• Staff provide all children with opportunities to help to develop their self-help skills. For example, children keenly put on their boots before they go outside, pour a drink of water, and serve themselves during mealtimes. However, during mealtimes, staff do not recognise when children struggle to eat uncut food, or provide them with adequate cutlery so that they can attempt to cut food into smaller pieces.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the key-person approach further to strengthen relationships with parents and provide even greater consistency in children's care and learning
• promote children's self-help skills and independence more consistently.