Little Explorers Nursery - Crawley

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children develop strong, meaningful bonds with key staff. Staff work in partnership with parents to help each child reach their next stage of development. Staff plan exciting and creative learning activities that are based on children's individual interests. Using their knowledge of children's current stage of development, staff are supported to extend children's knowledge, understanding and skills. All children make good progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) or who speak English as an additional language (EAL) are particularly well supported. Staff with designated responsibilities ensure personalised plans are effectively shared across the staff team. Leaders and managers work hard to keep parents updated, informed and involved in their child's education and care.

Leaders and managers have made significant changes since the last inspection which have raised the quality of the provision. Managers are effectively developing the staff team's understanding of the key-person role. This contributes to children settling quickly and feeling safe, secure and happy at nursery. All children behave well. They understand what is expected of them and staff consistently remind children of the rules and boundaries. This supports children to be confident and curious learners. Children enjoy purposeful activities and well-planned educational experiences. As such, they remain engaged in their learning for significant periods of time.

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

• The management of the nursery is strong. Leaders and managers have a clear, sequenced early years curriculum and continue to support the staff team to understand how to implement this effectively. Managers provide regular team meetings and one-to-one supervisions to support staff to develop their knowledge and skills. They manage staffing arrangements effectively. For example, staff provide detailed information about children to colleagues when it is necessary to change key-person arrangements. Where possible, familiar staff move rooms with children transitioning to older age groups.
• Staff are clear on how to support their key children's learning and development. All staff know all children well. They gather in-depth knowledge of their key children's individual needs particularly well. There are effective systems in place to ensure that children's medical and dietary needs are understood and catered for. This helps keep children safe and promotes their well-being.
• Staff have a good understanding of what children enjoy and understand their current interests. For example, those working with the younger children ensure that their favourite train tracks are set out. They understand how to extend this activity by adding structures and changing the track design. This successfully builds on what children know and can do. This helps children remain highly engaged in their play and learning. However, at times, children are not given the time to respond to questions posed by staff. Therefore, they are not able to reflect and understand what is being asked of them.
• Staff support children to make good progress. The early years curriculum is tailored to reflect children's interests. There is a strong focus on supporting children's communication and language development. Staff help children of all ages to develop a love of books. Children listen to, and share, stories with great enthusiasm. Babies and young children frequently choose books to look at, alone or with an adult. This extends their vocabulary, listening and attention skills.
• Children with EAL benefit from seeing and hearing key words in their home language. In addition, children access books and resources which reflect and celebrate their culture and heritage. For example, children play with authentic cooking utensils and dishes from countries like China and India within the role-play corner. This helps build a positive sense of self as well as promoting tolerance and respect for others. Children are kind to one another and demonstrate good manners. They say 'please', 'thank you' and 'excuse me' to their friends during their play.
• Children have ample opportunities to be physically active and enjoy spending time outdoors. They talk about their likes and dislikes during mealtimes, and staff explain to children the importance of eating healthily. Older children have good opportunities to practise their independence and self-help skills. However, some staff undertake tasks for children that they may be capable of doing for themselves, such as pouring their drinks and taking off their shoes.
• Parents' feedback about the staff and the progress their children make is positive. Managers engage with parents using a wide variety of means and actively encourage them to contribute to the ongoing development of the setting. There are effective systems in place for the completion of school transitions and the progress check for children aged two years.
• Those staff with designated responsibilities, such as safeguarding and SEND, work with outside agencies where appropriate to identify and meet the needs of children requiring additional support. This ensures that staff take prompt action to seek support for children, including those who may be vulnerable, at the earliest opportunity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's skills in recognising when to give children more time to think and respond during conversations
• support staff to make better use of opportunities that arise for children to do things for themselves and develop their independence skills.