Little Gems Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children spend their time immersed in play. They laugh out loud and excitedly explore the array of resources available to them. Toddlers delight in imaginative play. They serve dinners and cups of tea to staff. Children enjoy watching as staff pretend to eat and compliment their efforts as 'yummy'. Toddlers go on to care for the baby dolls in their room. They carefully tuck them in to sleep and pat their backs reassuringly. Staff support children well during activities. They narrate as children play. This helps to expose younger children to new words.

Pre-school children work together to achieve goals. They create an obstacle course outside. When they have run out of bricks they quickly begin to brainstorm together. They discuss ideas as a team to decide what other resources can be used to finish their project. Children show close bonds with peers and staff as they celebrate their success together. Staff extend children's learning. For instance, when constructing their course, staff encourage children to think about what safety elements they might need. Children recall previous learning and decide to put on construction hats, 'like builders do!'.

The manager has recently allowed parents to re-enter the building, having previously been stopped in response to COVID-19. Children and parents appreciate this. Parents feel more connected to their children's learning experiences now. Children enjoy showing their parents the toys and their work.

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

• Staff support children's personal development well. Pre-school children chop their own fruit and prepare fruit kebabs for their friends to snack on. All children know when to wash their hands and do this without prompt. During lunch, all children consider the food on offer and load up their own plates. They scrape their plates into the bin when finished and deposit their plates to be washed. Even the youngest children manage this with ease. This practice helps to support children's growing independence. This is especially helpful for those children who are due to start primary school this year.
• Children enjoy close, warm relationships with staff. The key-person system is very secure. Key persons know their children impressively well. They skilfully adapt the curriculum to support children's individual needs and complement their personal interests. This supports children's good progress and means all children access the curriculum effectively. They learn new things, remember past learning and relate play to their home lives. As a result, children with delays in their development quickly begin to catch up to their peers.
• Children behave well. They listen attentively to staff and their peers. Older children follow instructions and treat their friends kindly. They say 'please' and
• 'thank you' to one another and share toys happily. Younger children accommodate their friends within their play. They take turns, invite others to join in and smile happily at one another. Children are confident.
• Parents praise the manager and staff. They feel recent changes have increased the quality of provision. They appreciate the manager and her 'open communication'. The manager shares policies and procedures with parents when they first access the setting. However, not all parents read these documents, and as a result, are unaware of key information. For instance, parents do not always know where to escalate concerns should they have any.
• Children make lots of choices throughout the day. They help to make decisions, such as what to play with, where to play and what books to read. For the most part, their choices are adhered to. However, on occasion, staff ask children if they would like help and do not respect their response. Similarly, some staff do not recognise when children make their desires clear, such as wanting to leave the table. They sit children back down without explaining why or helping them to understand expectations. This leads to some minor frustration among the children.
• Children's mathematics skills are supported well. Staff are keen to involve numbers, shape and measure in most aspects of the curriculum. Children embrace this. Younger children begin to count out loud and separate groups of objects. Older children confidently discuss space and measure when filling and emptying containers of sand. This benefits children, especially those approaching primary school age.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen information sharing processes with parents, especially with regards to policies and procedures, in order to create an even stronger working partnership and culture of transparency
• strengthen staff understanding of recognising and listening to children's choices, to help children feel even more respected and heard.