Little Blossom Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happily at the nursery. They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure as they seek out their friends to share experiences. Younger children show their hand-to-eye coordination skills as they place construction materials on top of one another. Staff show them how to enhance their skills by interlocking the construction materials together, and they proceed to copy this. Younger children use chalks to make lines and circles. Older children join dots on paper demonstrating their developing pen control skills.

Staff encourage the children to move their bodies in a variety of ways during music and movement activities. Children enthusiastically make their bodies into a tiny mouse and pretend to jump like a frog. They work out how to build the wooden train track, and older children build bridges out of wooden blocks. Children search for hidden minibeasts in the soil and learn to identify what they have found by looking at images of different insects. They show pleasure when they successfully identify their insect and receive praise for their achievement. Children learn to sort pretend bears into their associated coloured pots. Older children confidently count their pretend scoops of ice cream and the shells they have collected from the sand.

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

• The registered provider and manager demonstrate a clear vision for the continuing development of the nursery. They evaluate their practice effectively. For example, they plan to enhance the space provided for the children to develop their physical skills and to develop links with the local community. Additionally, staff supervision is appropriately used to identify ongoing professional development opportunities that continue to support staff to develop their knowledge and skills.
• Staff demonstrate that they know the children well and become engaged in the children's play. They talk about where children are in their development and what they need to learn next. However, while staff are generally able to discuss the curriculum intentions, their teaching does not consistently focus on what they want children to learn next. On occasions, staff do not always differentiate their teaching to support the different ages and abilities of the children attending. For example, group activities are sometimes too long for the younger children and their attention is not always sustained. Overall, children behave well. Staff support them to understand different emotions.
• Children independently select from available activities and resources. However, on occasions, children are asked to stop what they are doing to tidy up for group activities or snack. This prevents children from continuing to participate in the activities they are enjoying. Therefore, some young children occasionally cry. Furthermore, additional resources to support children to further extend and develop their play and ideas are not always readily accessible or available.
• Staff support children to develop their communication and language skills. For example, they encourage the children to sing familiar rhymes such as 'I'm a dingle-dangle scarecrow'. They introduce new words, such as 'splash' and 'melt', as the children play with ice and water and share storybooks with the children. Older children describe how to make an ice cream and talk about their favourite ice cream flavours during their imaginary play, with staff's encouragement.
• Mealtimes are social occasions and staff use these effectively to develop children's self-care skills. Children use appropriate utensils to cut their fruit and brioche bread.
• Additional funding is appropriately used to support children in receipt of early years pupil premium. For example, additional resources have been purchased based on the children's interests to support them to settle at the nursery. Additionally, funding has been used to collate learning packs to support the continuation of the children's learning at home. This includes, for example, reading books to share with their parents and craft and colouring activities.
• Parents' comments about the nursery and staff are positive. They state that their children are growing in confidence and making progress in their development. Parents receive daily verbal communication from the staff and access an online system. This enables them to view written observations of their child's development and photos of their children participating in activities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to have a clearer understanding of the curriculum intent so that their teaching consistently focuses on what they want children to learn and is differentiated to support the needs of the differently aged children attending
• review the organisation of planned routines and the availability of resources to support children to develop and complete the activities they are enjoying.