Little Gardners Nursery

Inclusion: Expected standard

All children are welcomed into the nursery and leaders and staff work closely with parents to identify how they can best support each child. Leaders provide targeted support for disadvantaged children, those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), children known or previously known to children's social care, and those who face additional barriers to learning. Staff quickly identify children's needs and put in place timely, appropriate support that has a positive impact on their well-being, engagement and early progress. Leaders consider carefully how additional funding can best support children's development. For example, they provide resources to support children's sensory play and learning.

Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children and work effectively to reduce barriers to learning. Staff work closely with other agencies involved in children's care and share information with professionals to ensure a shared and consistent approach to children's care and learning. This supports positive outcomes for children with SEND and those who face additional barriers to learning. Leaders generally monitor children's progress to ensure that support remains targeted to their needs. Staff receive relevant training to help them understand and respond to children's specific needs, which has been particularly effective in supporting children's personal, social and emotional development and their self-regulation

Curriculum and teaching: Needs attention

Leaders do not ensure the curriculum is designed effectively, so that it is clear what children need to know or to be able to do next. Staff are not always clear about what they want children to learn next. This means that learning experiences are not tailored to enable staff to direct teaching in a purposeful way, to further children's knowledge and skills. Leaders have recently begun to take action to improve the curriculum and the quality of teaching. As this work is still in its infancy, it is too early to evaluate its full impact on all children's learning and progress.

Staff provide a range of activities which ignite children's curiosity. For instance, children readily take part in planting herbs, as staff talk about the textures and smells of different herbs. Staff teach children how to coordinate their hand-eye coordination skills, as they build block towers. However, teaching is inconsistent and some staff do not use their interactions to extend children's learning effectively. At times, teaching is not matched appropriately to children's typical stages of development., particularly for older and more capable children, which hinders how every child is supported to reach their full potential.

Achievement: Needs attention

Weaknesses in the curriculum and teaching have an impact on children's achievements. Activities, including those related to mathematics, do not always build effectively on what children already know and can do. At times, children take part in learning activities that are not matched to their stage of learning. This limits children's progress and reduces opportunities for them to develop the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage in their learning.

Despite this, children readily take part in a range of activities across the nursery. For instance, older children explore how to fill and empty jugs of water to transfer this down pipes to larger trays. Babies share favourite books, as they hear new language in their play. Children develop their independence skills. For example, younger children learn how to feed themselves during mealtimes and older children sort and tidy away toys, when asked to.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Expected standard

Leaders and staff support all children to take part in the daily routines of the setting. They make adaptations when needed to support their individual needs and to provide an inclusive environment. Leaders monitor attendance appropriately. They speak to parents and carers about the importance of regular attendance and have suitable procedures in place to follow up on children's absences.

Children's behaviour is generally positive. They learn the importance of kindness and respect, as part of the nursery ethos. Children learn to take turns, listen to each others ideas and suggestions and to play together. Staff praise children's positive behaviour. Where children need extra support with their self-regulation, staff recognise and respond to this with sensitivity. Strategies staff use to help children understand how they feel and respond in positive ways include modelling emotional language, offering calm support, and guiding children to use simple self-regulation techniques. This helps children to develop skills that support their future learning.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff promote and build trusting relationships, from the outset. They work with parents to understand the care needs of children to ensure that routines are centred around what children need to help them feel safe and secure. Children build secure attachments with staff. For instance, babies nestle into staff's arms as they fall asleep and older children seek out staff for cuddles, when they need reassurance.

Leaders and staff create a safe environment for children. Mealtimes are used to help children learn routines that promote their safety. For instance, older children learn the importance of sitting to eat at mealtimes. Babies and younger children are offered foods that are suitably prepared for their stage of weaning, with staff ensuring that textures, portion sizes, and serving methods are appropriate for each child's age and ability.

Leaders implement suitable hygiene practices to help ensure children's personal care needs are met appropriately. Overall, staff support children to become increasingly independent in managing their own self-care routines. For example, children learn how to wash their hands before they sit to eat and manage toileting tasks independently, where appropriate.

Leadership and governance: Needs attention

Leader's recognise the changes to the staff team has had an impact in the quality of the nursery. They understand the settings strengths and areas for development, however, this is not targeted well enough to bring about rapid improvement. This leads to weakness in the quality of teaching and some children's learning experiences.

The support for staff who are new to their roles are in their infancy. While leaders recognise that although supervision is in place for staff, it is not robust enough to bring about rapid improvement. Staff do not receive the targeted support they need, to address weakness in their knowledge and teaching practice. As a result, staff do not consistently support all children's learning effectively.

Leaders build positive relationships with their staff team. They take appropriate action to support staff's wellbeing and help to ensure workloads remain manageable. Staff say they feel valued and supported in their roles. Partnerships with parents and families are a focus for leaders and staff. When leaders work with other external agencies and services, they establish regular sharing of information which supports a collaborative approach to children's care. Additionally, leaders have established links with local schools to help support children's transitions to the next stage in their education.