Little Cherubs

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are greeted by friendly staff when they arrive at the nursery. They happily leave their parents at the door and quickly settle to play with their friends. Children are confident to explore their environment. All children enjoy spending time indoors and outside during their time in the nursery, which helps to support their physical development. They notice changes in the weather, putting out their hands to check how heavy the rain is. They giggle as they try to catch raindrops on their tongues. Children sing songs about the weather, before moving under shelter when the rain gets heavier.

Children, including those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress because staff plan for their next steps in learning. They develop their mathematical skills through everyday activities with staff. For example, when children sort cubes by colour, staff support them to spot which ones do not belong and count how many they have collected.

Children are well behaved. Staff praise children and talk about the positive things that they have noticed them doing. Children clap for themselves and each other. They are confident to play on their own but are happy for others to join in their play, welcoming them and sharing toys.

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

• Managers have a clear vision of how the curriculum develops as children progress through the nursery. Staff know children well and support their development by planning a range of activities to support what children need to learn next. Staff work closely with the local authority and other agencies to develop strategies to support children's learning, including those children with SEND.
• Children's independence is generally encouraged. Younger children spread cheese on their crackers at snack time, serve themselves salad at mealtimes and clear away their plates. However, at other times, some staff do not allow children the opportunity to practise their independence skills. For example, they put on children's coats for them and zip them up, without encouraging them to do this for themselves.
• Children are confident to access all areas of learning. They love to spend time learning outside. However, sometimes, they have to ask staff to get particular resources, such as books, when they are outside. Leaders are currently working on ways of arranging resources so that children can access resources more independently in all areas of the nursery.
• Staff support children's early literacy skills throughout the day. They share stories, songs and rhymes and introduce new vocabulary when opportunities arise. Children enthusiastically join in with their favourite repeated phrases when staff read 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt' with them. They enjoy acting out the movements to show how they would move through the 'swishy, swashy grass'.
• Parents speak very positively about the nursery. They praise staff for their patience and support. Parents talk proudly about the progress that their children have made since they started attending. They report that staff take time to get to know them and their children. Parents enjoy seeing what their children have been doing in nursery through the online application.
• Children are friendly and polite towards each other. Staff are consistent with their expectations for how children behave in the nursery. They share resources with parents to support their children's behaviour at home if requested. Staff help children who have limited speaking skills to communicate by indicating their choices from a selection of picture cards. They support children who speak English as an additional language by using keywords in their home languages to support their understanding where possible.
• Staff have opportunities to meet with managers for regular supervision meetings and feel this supports their well-being. They attend training and meet frequently as a team. Staff are encouraged to request additional training that they feel would be beneficial to further develop their practice and improve outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement consistent strategies for staff to encourage children to develop their independence and self-care skills
• review the organisation of resources to enable children to be able to access all areas of learning independently.