Little Cherubs

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children feel safe at Little Cherubs nursery as a result of effective procedures in place. They play happily under the supervision of staff, who support and guide their learning well. Children have strong attachments with staff, which helps them to feel emotionally secure. They interact positively and receive lots of praise for their efforts and achievements. As a result, children feel self-assured. This is evident, for example, as they socialise with visitors and play with their peers confidently.

Children experience a rich and balanced curriculum to help prepare them for the next stage of their education. For example, younger children have plenty of opportunities to develop their small muscles while playing with toy bricks in the outdoor environment. Older children practise their strong language and drawing skills by helping staff to retell the story of 'The Three Little Pigs'. Children take part in many extra-curricular activities, including outings to various places of interest. They learn to say basic words and count in other languages, such as German, French and Mandarin. This raises children's awareness of similarities and differences between people.

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

• The manager, supported aptly by her deputy manager and staff, provides strong and effective leadership. For example, she responded very well to the challenges of COVID-19 with kindness and sensitivity to help children and their families. This has had a positive impact on children, particularly on their learning and personal development.
• The long-standing staff team reports that its feels very much supported by the management team. Staff appreciate the opportunities to gain higher qualifications to develop their teaching practice. Staff also value the good training programme that is on offer. For example, some of them have increased their knowledge of how to promote children's learning in the natural environment. The impact of this training has contributed to greater confidence in children, particularly the older ones.
• Children have independent access to a wide variety of toys and resources that add fun to their play. For instance, younger children enjoy exploring natural resources and everyday objects in the home corner area. This supports children's imagination and sensory skills successfully. Outdoors, children delight in making their own potions using different-sized containers and bottles.
• Overall, staff promote children's good conduct. However, on some occasions, they do not explain to children what is expected of them. For example, at snack time, staff ask children to sit down while eating their food but do not remind others to do the same. Consequently, children are not always sure about staff's expectations.
• Staff carry out regular observations and assessments of children's progress. They provide a good balance between adult-led and child-initiated activities to keep children motivated to learn. However, at times, staff do not notice when some children may need to expand on their ideas and thoughts. This prevents staff from consolidating children's learning.
• Children gain a strong understanding of numbers and other mathematical concepts, such as through songs and rhymes. Older children are able to count and match items correctly.
• Staff work collaboratively with parents and outside agencies to ensure that children receive all the support they need, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Parents recognise this and are grateful to staff, who they find very accommodating and approachable. This strong partnership between staff and parents helps children to make significant progress in their early education.
• The manager continues to make positive changes to the nursery to ensure that children have the best possible start in life. For example, she has adapted the curriculum to give greater weight to literacy. Following this, children are able to practise their writing skills more freely, using a wide range of materials, inside and outside. After an evaluation of their practice, the manager is exploring other ways to further promote children's creative skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide children with clear and consistent messages, ensuring they understand the behavioural expectations
• make more effective use of opportunities to enable children, particularly during adult-led activities, to fully express their ideas and thoughts.