Little Care Bearz Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at the nursery. The manager and her team create a warm, welcoming and secure environment. Babies are quick to settle in the arms of nurturing staff. Staff are attentive, offering cuddles and reassurance, and they ensure children's individual routines are followed. Children's behaviour is good. They follow instructions and respond to staff when they are reminded about the expectations. Staff are polite and speak calmly to children. They encourage and praise children, which helps boost their emotional well-being and confidence.

Children who speak English as an additional language receive support to communicate their needs. Staff use some words in their home language alongside English. This helps children to build their confidence and self-esteem. Staff introduce new vocabulary and ask questions as children play. Babies show interest in their play when they tap a light sensor. They babble and repeat words they hear from the staff. Children independently access resources and make choices about their play. Children talk with confidence. For example, they say that the pumpkin has 'so many seeds' when they put their hands in it. Children enjoy the activities staff provide and play with their friends. For example, they work together to build a tower with large blocks and discuss where pieces should go.

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

• Overall, leaders and managers provide an effective curriculum across all areas of learning. They base the curriculum on the children's interests and build on what children already know and can do. For example, children explore and decorate pumpkins for Halloween. This motivates children to learn and build curiosity.
• Staff take time to build trusting relationships with parents. Staff work closely with parents and keep them informed about their children's day. They review learning targets for children and provide parents with activities to support their children's learning at home. Staff gather important information about children's dietary and care needs. They use this to give children individual care. This supports continuity of learning and promotes children's health and well-being.
• Leaders and managers appreciate diversity and differences in people in the community. They promote equality and diversity through resources and cultural events they hold at the nursery. For example, parents attend events and show traditional dances from their cultures. This allows children to feel valued and develop understanding and tolerance of others.
• Staff support children to interact with others and develop their confidence in social situations. For example, older children sit and talk to their friends and staff during mealtimes. Staff support their conversations and offer praise. These experiences help build children's personal development.
• Staff engage children in conversation to support their language development skills. However, not all staff talk to children in a way that challenges their thinking skills. As a result, at times, interactions are not skilful enough to stretch children's communication and language skills.
• Leaders and managers promote staff's continuous professional development. They support staff to complete training and further their qualifications. The manager values the individual skills of each member of the team and spends a lot of time in the rooms, providing support as needed. Staff attend team meetings and supervisions. However, the monitoring of staff's practice is not yet focused sharply enough to raise the already good teaching even further.
• Children enjoy a range of physical development opportunities throughout the day. For example, babies practise using their fingers to operate musical toys, and crawl freely to take toys they want to play with. Toddlers climb up and down on large soft-play equipment and enjoy mark making as they finger paint. As a result, children develop their large and small muscles.
• Staff use observation and assessment to identify children's interests and what children need to learn next. They mostly use this information well to plan child-led activities and experiences. However, on occasion, the learning intentions for some group activities planned for younger children are too broad. Although children enjoy the activities on offer, staff do not consistently adapt their teaching enough to capture every child's needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to raise the quality of their interactions with children so that they stretch and extend children's communication and language skills even further
• monitor staff and evaluate their practice more precisely, to raise the quality of teaching to the highest level
• develop further the use of planned group activities to ensure all children fully benefit.