Little Green Hut Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff welcome children into the setting with extreme warmth. Children eagerly and immediately become absorbed in activities of their choosing. They show high levels of concentration as they use different tools to fill containers with water, ice and sliced lemon. They talk about the textures of the ice and smell the lemon-scented water. Leaders and staff recognise the impact that the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic has had on children's communication and social development. They provide fun group activities and encourage children to contribute their own views and ideas with their peers. However, on occasion, they do not consider the needs of all children when delivering these activities. Consequently, those children who are less confident at expressing themselves do not benefit as well as their peers from the intended learning.

Overall, children play together very well and build positive friendships. They make each other meals while tending to the 'babies' in the role-play area. Snack times are also a very social affair as they talk to each other and staff. Children enjoy sharing aspects of their home lives with their peers. For example, they bring their pet tortoises into the setting for their friends to see. Staff use this opportunity to support children's understanding of the natural world. For example, they talk about what tortoises eat and children explore the texture and patterns of their shells.

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

• This inspection was prioritised following a complaint which raised concerns about how children's dietary needs and allergies are supported. Leaders and staff took effective action to address weaknesses in practice prior to the inspection. This minimises the risk of children consuming food that they are allergic to in future. All staff have a clear understanding of the dietary needs of the children who attend. They also closely supervise children during snack times and mealtimes. This supports children's overall health and well-being.
• The well-established and experienced staff team provides a bright and stimulating environment for children to play and learn in. They have a good understanding of how to support children's overall development. They monitor children's achievements regularly and share this, along with what they recognise children need to learn next, with the rest of the team. As a result, all staff know the children very well and can support children to move on to the next stage of their learning. Staff promptly identify when children's learning is at risk of falling behind in comparison to their peers. They work with parents and other professionals to make sure that targeted support is provided at the earliest opportunity. All children make good progress in their learning.
• Staff foster children's love of books and reading. This supports children's speech and literacy development and helps to deepen their vocabulary. There is a wide range of books for children to choose from. They readily select and browse their favourite books as they wait for their friends to arrive. Children approach staff with books to read aloud to them during the session. They listen to the stories and look at the pictures with awe and wonder. Younger children benefit as they point out what they can see in the pictures. During group story activities, staff ask older children questions about what they think will happen next or where they might find tigers in the real world. Children eagerly respond and express their thoughts. However, quieter children do not always benefit from opportunities to express themselves as much as those children who are more vocal.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff work with parents to gather detailed information when their children start to tailor care and learning to meet their child's needs. They regularly share information about children's development and ways in which parents can support their children at home. Parents particularly comment on the 'caring' and 'supportive' staff and how happily their children walk into and out of the setting.
• Leaders and staff have high expectations for all children. They regularly evaluate their practice individually and as a team. This helps them to continually improve the quality of teaching and the daily experiences of children who attend the setting. The manager has clear ongoing plans for improvement. This includes enhancing the provision of outdoor play so that children can enjoy a wider range of experiences across all areas of learning. This will better support those children who prefer to learn outdoors. On occasion, children who prefer more active play can become restless and their behaviour disrupts other children during group activities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the delivery of group activities to ensure that all children benefit from the intended learning, particularly those who are quieter and more reluctant to express themselves
• enhance the curriculum for outdoor learning to ensure that those children who learn better outdoors have more opportunities to do so, and to support development across all areas of learning.