Little Cherubs Day Nursery (Birkenhead) Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff eagerly wait at the door for children to arrive. Children run into the arms of familiar staff as they are greeted with welcoming hugs. They demonstrate an eagerness to start their day in the safe and secure homely environment. Staff consistently reinforce appropriate boundaries and rules for children. The children are reminded to be kind, share resources and know the nursery's 'golden rules'. Staff promote teamwork as younger children are given tasks to work together. Older children make great friendships and help and support each other. For example, children help their friends to pour water into a cup when they see them struggling. Children's behaviour is good.

The nursery is full of exciting opportunities for children to explore and spark their curiosity and learning. Babies develop their fine motor skills and senses as they make marks with crushed cereal. Toddlers look at frogspawn and learn more about the life cycle of a frog. Older children extend their imagination as they facilitate their own play and share ideas. They thrive on the rich learning opportunities and resources that they have to experiment and explore with.

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

• The management team works well together and has a clear vision, with children being the centre of everything. Managers are dedicated to their roles and are highly focused on continually improving quality. This results in them creating an environment that captures children's attention and draws them in to explore and be curious as they play and learn.
• Staff feel well supported in their role by the managers. They attend regular supervision sessions and have the opportunity to discuss their key children and training needs. However, areas of improvement and clear targets are not always identified to enable staff to develop their practice further.
• The curriculum is well sequenced and ambitious. Staff know what children can do and what they want them to learn next. Children are confident, demonstrate a positive attitude towards learning and have high levels of independence. Children are making good progress.
• Generally, staff communicate well with children and make good use of signs and visual prompts. This is particularly useful for children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs/or disabilities, as it allows them to communicate their needs. Staff speak clearly to children and engage them in interesting conversations. However, at times, some staff's questioning abilities are less effective, as they ask children too many closed questions. Also, some staff allow younger children to have an unnecessary use of and over-reliance on dummies. During these times, children are prevented from extending their communication, early speech and language.
• Children learn the importance of leading healthy lifestyles. They confidently talk about fruit and vegetables being good for their bodies and how they make them have strong muscles. Children know to place their hands over their mouths when they cough, and they explain that they wash their hands to stop germs from spreading. They regularly access the outdoors and benefit from fresh air and space to move around. This helps support children's physical development and provides opportunities for them to be active.
• The special educational needs coordinator carries out her additional role well. She communicates regularly with parents, works closely with external professionals and shares specific strategies and targets with staff. She also ensures that children who speak English as an additional language can express their needs and offers support and guidance to their families. This good communication and shared approach helps support children's care and learning effectively.
• Parent partnership is effective. Parents speak daily to staff about what children have done throughout the day. They feel well informed about their children's achievements and progress. Parents say staff are approachable and that they feel able to talk to them about any support their children need and how they can further support their children at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance supervision sessions for staff to ensure clear targets are set and feedback is sharply focused, to help improve staff practice even further
• support staff in their understanding of how to extend children's communication, speech and language further, focusing particularly on the overuse of dummies and use of closed questions.