Little Ellies

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy and settled at Little Ellies. They benefit greatly from the warm and trusting relationships with staff. Children are enthusiastic when they arrive and show that they feel safe, secure and ready to learn. They are keen to explore their surroundings and enjoy participating in activities with staff. Children focus well and sustain their interest for extended amounts of time. For instance, toddlers are enthralled as they explore how to use glue. They examine how it flows and drips from a glue spreader to create patterns.

Managers and staff have high expectations for what children can achieve. Children are encouraged to be independent from an early age. Consequently, older children are confident about what they can do and demonstrate a good range of skills in preparation for starting school. For example, they follow good hygiene routines, serve themselves at mealtimes and put on their coats independently. The nursery is highly inclusive and staff value children's individuality. For instance, where children speak English as an additional language, staff use key words and phrases from home, to aid their communication. The nursery resources reflect the diversity of children and staff, and they celebrate a wide range of multicultural events throughout the year. This helps children to understand and respect their differences.

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

• The manager and deputy manager form an enthusiastic and ambitious team. The manager prioritises staff's professional development and provides regular supervision and meetings. Consequently, staff feel well supported and morale is high. Staff speak enthusiastically about recent training and future plans. For instance, they are excited to implement the ideas for forest school activities, which they learned about at a recent conference. They describe how this will enhance children's learning outdoors.
• Staff have a good understanding of children's individual needs and interests. They monitor children's progress closely and support their next steps in learning well. Staff recognise when children need additional support to achieve their developmental milestones. They work closely with parents and other professionals to implement targeted support. Consequently, all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those receiving funding, make good progress from their starting points.
• Overall, staff support children's language and communication well. They sing, converse and share stories with them throughout the day. However, staff in the toddler and pre-school rooms do not consistently extend children's speech and vocabulary. For example, the words that they use during activities and discussions lack variety.
• Staff want all children to develop a love of books. They carefully choose stories, which are relevant to children ages, experiences and interests. For instance, staff introduce a book about owl babies, to help support children who are settling into the nursery. They skilfully use the themes from the book, to help children reflect on their feelings about being left at nursery. The story also helps to reassure children that their parents will come back soon.
• Children thrive in an emotionally warm and supportive environment. They play happily alongside each other and develop good friendships with their peers. Staff are vigilant and quickly intervene, to support children's behaviour. However, they do not always provide clear and consistent guidance, to help children understand their expectations. For example, staff tell toddlers 'use your words', during disagreements with peers. However, they do not teach them the relevant language, to enable them to do this. Therefore, children often need help to moderate their behaviour.
• Staff promote healthy lifestyles for children well. At mealtimes, they talk to them about the benefits of healthy eating. This motivates children to eat well and sample new foods. Children are active throughout the day, they enjoy playing in their garden and visiting a local park for exercise and fresh air.
• Parents praise the staff highly and describe how much their children look forward to attending. They enjoy the opportunities to participate in their children's learning through events, such as outings and stay-and play-sessions. Parents appreciate how well staff help them to support children's learning at home. For example, managers provide regular parent workshops, on issues such as children's oral health.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to develop their interactions and questioning, to further extend children's vocabularies and language skills
• support staff in the toddler and pre-school rooms, to provide clearer and more consistent guidance for children's behaviour.