Little Cherubs Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive in this welcoming nursery. Leaders and staff prioritise their safety and well-being. They provide a wealth of nurturing support, so that children settle quickly and feel secure. Leaders ensure that there is a consistently high ratio of staff to children, with additional staff who provide enhanced support and continuity. This enables staff to get to know children and families very well and provide highly individualised care. Staff host regular nursery events, bringing families together to share in children's learning. For example, parents and carers regularly join children for story, song and cooking sessions. They share their home languages, cultures and traditions. As a result, children and families feel valued.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for children's learning. They provide an ambitious curriculum to equip children with useful life skills and prepare them for their next stages in learning. For instance, as children progress through the nursery, staff support them to become increasingly independent with their personal care. Therefore, older children confidently manage tasks, such as eating with cutlery and putting on their coats and shoes, which put them in good stead for starting school. Staff are positive role models for children. They encourage them to be helpful and to use good manners and overall support their behaviour effectively. Children develop positive relationships with others and generally behave well.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision for the nursery and are dedicated to continuous improvement. They monitor staff's performance and provide effective supervision and training opportunities. This enables staff to improve their childcare qualifications and develop their skills and interests. Staff implement new ideas to further enrich the curriculum. For example, following 'forest school' training, staff have enhanced children's learning outdoors using natural settings and resources.
• Staff provide a safe and creative space where children have time to practise skills and consolidate their learning. There is a strong focus on children's language development, to help them become confident and effective communicators. Staff monitor children's progress closely and provide highly targeted support, to help close any identified gaps. This includes working with parents and other professionals where needed. These effective partnerships help all children to make good progress from their starting points in development.
• Staff closely collaborate with parents, to ensure that each family's unique dynamics and traditions are celebrated. They actively engage with bilingual families to incorporate key words, songs and stories in children's home languages. This supports children to understand and respect their differences. Staff are out and about daily with children. They visit local parks, shops, the library and museums. Therefore, children develop a secure knowledge of their wider community.
• Children's behaviour is generally good. They are helpful and follow the routines well. Children play games together and develop good friendships. However, at times, staff are not clear about their expectations, such as taking turns. They support children to solve disagreements but do not consistently help them to understand the strong feelings involved. Therefore, on some occasions, children are unclear about what they can and cannot do and find it hard to moderate their behaviour.
• Children enjoy interesting play opportunities, which ignite their love for learning. For instance, older children are curious about numbers and measurements. They explore this interest outdoors in the 'mud kitchen', as they count out leaves, flowers and scoops of soil to create 'stick stew'. Staff are on hand to encourage and extend children's learning. This helps children to develop a positive attitude to mathematics and problem-solving.
• Staff say they feel supported in their roles and their well-being is good. They work well together and are deployed effectively to meet children's needs. Staff communicate effectively as a team, such as when children move on to the next nursery class. This helps to provide consistent care and support for children.
• Parents are eager to share their views on the nursery. They comment on the low turnover of staff, which enables them to build trusting relationships with staff. Parents describe the sense of 'family' and 'community' that leaders and staff create. They feel confident that their children are happy, safe and well cared for. Parents have a clear understanding of the curriculum and are well informed of their children's progress. They describe how children meet their developmental milestones well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to be clearer and more consistent about their expectations for children's behaviour, to help children to further moderate their behaviour.