Little Dreamers Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a warm and welcoming environment, where children demonstrate they feel happy, safe and secure. Children eagerly come into the nursery and engage in play with their friends. Children confidently explore the well-organised resources and make choices in their play. Staff are very nurturing and give children lots of praise and encouragement to support their self-esteem and confidence. Children have lots of opportunities to learn about themselves and each other, and value their similarities and differences. For example, they learn about different festivals that they and others celebrate with their families.

Babies are very happy and settled. Staff get to know them well. Personal settling-in processes help staff to find out valuable information that assists children to settle quickly into nursery life. Staff build lovely relationships with babies and provide a range of activities to engage them and support their learning. For example, babies delight in playing with the toy stethoscope. Staff model finding their heart beat and say 'boom boom' as babies laugh and giggle.

Staff support children's behaviour well. They are good role models for positive behaviour and give lots of gentle reminders. They quickly respond to children's needs and encourage children to use good manners. Children are kind and considerate to each other and learn to take turns and share resources.

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

• The leaders are passionate about providing good-quality care for the children and their families. They work well with the staff to effectively reflect and evaluate the nursery, looking at what they do well and what they can do to improve. For instance, they have recently adapted the curriculum to ensure communication and language is at the heart of everything they do.
• Staff are helped to understand their roles and responsibilities. New staff complete induction training, and receive effective support from leaders and the other staff. Staff have regular opportunities to plan for children's learning and to refresh their knowledge on policies and procedures. Additionally, leaders ensure that they meet regularly with staff to discuss their professional development and well-being. This enables leaders to identify how they can further support staff in their roles. Staff feel valued in their roles and this contributes to a strong team that recognise each other's strengths.
• Staff regularly observe and track children's progress. They plan activities based on children's interests and what children know and can do. Staff identify any gaps in children's learning and put appropriate support in place. Children are well prepared for the next stages of their learning, including moving on to school. Overall, the curriculum is ambitious and challenging for all children.
• Children are given lots of opportunities to sing songs, listen to stories, and have conversations with each other. This supports all children to make good progress in their communication and language development. However, on occasions, children are not given enough time to think and respond to the questions posed to them, to further support their own thought and ideas.
• Staff encourage children to develop their independence. At mealtimes, older children serve their own meals and drinks. Younger children are supported by staff to feed themselves. During free play, children confidently choose what they want to do. For instance, babies enjoy pushing balls round the room, finding where they have rolled to.
• Staff work hard to promote cultural capital by giving children lots of different enriching experiences. For example, children walk to the local shops to experience buying snacks using coins. Additional funding is used well to promote lots of different experiences children may not have at home.
• Staff attend training to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive the support they need. Staff identify where there are gaps in children's learning. They work closely with other professionals and families to implement strategies that ensure these gaps close swiftly and children make the best possible progress.
• Partnerships with parents are very strong. Parents are given updates on what their children have done and learned through daily discussions and via the nursery app. Parents comment that the staff are friendly and caring. Also, since attending the nursery, they can see their children have developed in their physical, language, and social skills. They value staff's professional advice about speech and language, potty training and behaviour matters.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide time for children to think and respond to questions with their own thoughts and ideas.