Little Explorers Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children make strong and consistent progress from their individual starting points during their time with the well-qualified and purposeful staff. They are very well prepared for the next stage in their education and development, including starting school. Children learn, for example, to develop their imagination and persist at challenging tasks. For instance, babies build their observational awareness and physical skills as they follow and reach out for the colourful bubbles blowing around the room. Two-year-olds refine their fine hand control as they rhythmically tap wooden beaters and other instruments in time with the many well-remembered nursery rhymes and other songs they choose.

Children learn to become independent and confident communicators. For instance, three- and four-year-old children build strongly on their language skills and understanding of the world as they demonstrate how to handle and care for the hens they have bred. They talk knowledgeably about the 'incubator' that the chickens 'hatched' in and the way the hens 'peck the ground' in search for food.

Children are safe and secure. They rise to staff's high expectations for good manners and positive social behaviour. For instance, children engage in polite, friendly discussions throughout the nutritious snack and mealtimes. They develop their management of cutlery and use of open cups as they progress through nursery.

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

• The development of children's strong communication and language skills is central to the preparation for further learning. Staff make very good use of focused training initiatives to ensure children build consistently on their speaking skills as they progress through nursery. Staff skilfully model new words and phrases as children play. They support them to use and recall these accurately through, for instance, planned games and activities and skilful questioning.
• The leadership is highly ambitious to ensure that every child achieves their full potential before moving on to the next stage in their learning. Senior staff support their colleagues through sharply focused and extensive training to build all aspects of their provision. They consistently evaluate, monitor and review the quality of staff's practice to ensure they are meeting the learning needs of all children. Staff morale is high.
• Staff help children to develop a deep understanding of number and early mathematical language. They support children to accurately match quantities to the numbers they are learning to count through, for example their construction and sorting activities with natural objects. As they progress, children learn and use increasingly challenging mathematical language, such as 'half empty' and
• 'more, less and equal', as they balance giant child-size scales in their outdoor play.
• Staff ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and other vulnerable learners receive robust and carefully targeted support. They work closely with other professionals, such as speech and language and inclusion specialists, to careful plan and promote all aspects of children's learning. They make good use of additional funding to, for example, enrich children's sensory and personal awareness.
• Staff plan for and support children's personal development, positive behaviour and attitudes. They are consistently mindful of the children's immediate needs and use smiles, praise and tangible rewards, such as stickers, to reassure them and build their confidence. They make very good use of books and stories to build children's awareness of their emotions, such as anger, joy and sadness, as they progress through nursery. Staff help children to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviour.
• Children's physical development is strongly and systematically promoted throughout nursery. For example, children engage in increasingly challenging activities that build their core strength and body management. For example, they learn to dance and move to music, develop their balancing and climbing skills and create their own obstacle courses.
• Staff build strong working partnerships with parents and carers to ensure children make the best possible start to their learning. Parents strongly recommend the nursery. They feel they are fully consulted and supported through extensive feedback and guidance to support the children's learning and development at home.