Little Crocs Day Nursery and Pre School

Inclusion: Strong standard

Staff quickly identify any emerging worries and swiftly implement focused next steps to help guide children's learning. Staff and leaders work closely with parents and carers to support children to help assess emerging needs. They work in close partnership with other agencies to support children and adapt activities precisely to help progress children's learning and development further. Communication books support ongoing feedback between the nursery and home to develop children's progress consistently. Staff also work well with local schools that children will attend, sharing information on how to support transitions and behaviour management, for instance. This helps children understand expectations at their new settings and to become familiar with routines to aid settling.

Staff have a clear understanding of barriers to learning and how to reduce these effectively. They work closely with parents to review changes to children's behaviour and the impact on children's learning and development. They then adapt routines to support children's personal and emotional needs. Leaders continually assess the impact of the learning environment and how they use additional funding. Staff review children's progress and the impact of how funding is used to support children's learning and development. This allows staff to identify any further support children may need moving forward.

Curriculum and teaching: Strong standard

Leaders are highly ambitious and provide a curriculum that is fully inclusive and supports every child that attends. Staff and leaders have extremely high expectations for children. Activities and interactions are of a consistently high standard, promoting the high expectations for children's learning and development. Staff are attuned to providing children with extra challenge to further support them to work towards their goals.

Babies enjoy high-quality activities that meet all of their developmental needs. Children indicate to staff if they wish to access different resources. They are highly independent, sharing where they wish to play, indoors or outdoors. Babies excitedly explore sand play. Staff teach them how to make different shapes using utensils such as their hands, bowls and spoons. This greatly supports their hand-eye coordination. Older children are expertly challenged by highly skilled staff. Leaders ensure that children do not fall behind, setting tailored next steps to progress their learning rapidly as they prepare for their move on to school.

Staff make excellent use of current events and festivals, combined with children's interests, to support their learning. For example, during 'health-and-safety week', older children made traffic lights and used these to learn about road safety. Younger children learn about their own safety, as staff explain what might happen if they climb on furniture, for instance.

Achievement: Strong standard

All children, including those with emerging concerns, make significant progress in their learning and development given their starting points. They are very well prepared for any transitions, either between units in the setting or for their move on to school. Babies thoroughly enjoy messy and creative activities. They confidently use different resources and tools, such as brushes, sponges and their hands, to make different marks with paints. They show great excitement while playing in the rain, developing their coordination, pouring water and watching it run down drainpipes, for instance.

Older children enjoy making a watch during creative play. They exclaim with delight when they master how to draw the watch face. They show with pride the finished watch on their wrist. Children transport resources to different areas to extend their learning further. For example, they move sand between role-play areas to make pretend cups of tea and serve them to staff. This enhances their natural curiosity and creative development.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Across the nursery, there is a highly positive culture of respect and excellent behaviour. Staff take time to listen to children's views and questions and respond to help children understand what is happening. Staff take time to listen and respond to babies' early communications, enabling them to be heard and have a voice. Staff support children extremely well to manage their behaviour. There are excellent strategies in place to support children to talk about their feelings. The impact is evident in the superb behaviour that children display. Children have excellent bonds with staff, which further support children's highly positive behaviour.

Staff make excellent use of visual timelines to help children understand routines. This particularly helps to support children who may face challenges with their emotions or other barriers to engagement and learning. Staff have embedded routines across both units in the setting. Children of all ages sweep up sand from the floor and help pick up resources to prevent trip hazards without being asked. Staff work closely with parents and carers to support regular attendance, helping to close any gaps in their learning and development.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Strong standard

Staff work in excellent partnership with parents and carers to support consistency in children's routines from home. Younger children regulate their emotions and responses, deciding to have a morning sleep, for example. Staff sit with them as they sleep. Settling sessions are expertly adapted to meet children's individual needs. Leaders review which staff children bond with during settling sessions to ensure that they have a key person who they can develop secure attachments with. This helps all children to settle quickly into the setting, ready to start their learning.

Staff carry out 'rolling mealtimes' for all children. This allows children who are still playing to carry on their learning and come for lunch when they are ready. Mealtimes are highly social occasions where children sit with staff, talking about the food and the effect it has on their bodies. Teaching is well embedded, as children clear their plates and place settings without needing to be asked. Children use a mirror to clean their face after meals. This further supports children's health and wellbeing. Children grow herbs and vegetables and learn how to care for them, learning about nature and the world around them. Staff make excellent use of timelines and sign language to support children to understand what is happening next and to help them to regulate their behaviour.

Leadership and governance: Strong standard

Leaders at the nursery have developed a culture of respect and responsibility across both units. They carry out safe recruitment and follow up on all checks and references to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children. Full induction processes are in place for new staff, which leaders ensure are completed prior to staff being given key children. This enables leaders to review any further training that staff may require before supporting children. Leaders value staff's wellbeing highly. Leaders and staff support each other and work together very well. This contributes to a calm atmosphere across the units.

Leaders are highly skilled at identifying staff's training needs and the impact this has on children, supporting consistently high-quality education and teaching. Leaders review children's emerging needs and review training for staff to further support progress towards their targets. Parents and carers value the excellent learning their children access. They describe how proactive staff are in supporting their children's progress. They value the consistent communication and suggestions for home learning, providing continuity of care for children.