Little Green Rascals Children's Organic Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children become deeply engrossed in their play at this wonderfully calm and inviting nursery. They busy themselves with the purposeful learning experiences that staff plan for them. Staff know the children extremely well. They consider children's next steps in development and interests to motivate their learning. As a result, children naturally choose to take part in these fun experiences. Staff enthusiastically play alongside children, supporting and extending their learning. This ensures that all children thrive and continue to make positive achievements in their learning.

Children develop close bonds with all staff and are happy and settled in their care. The key-person system is well established from the moment that children begin to attend. For example, children take home a 'get to know your key person' activity box when they first attend the setting. Children and their parents and/or carers attend the setting for a highly informative meeting and settling-in session with their child's key person. This promotes exceptional levels of care and support for children and their development needs.

Leaders and staff place a strong focus on learning outdoors in the stimulating garden or at the nursery's forest school. Children are encouraged to be active. They take part in challenging and suitably risky play under careful supervision from staff. Staff support children to learn the rules of how to stay safe when engaging in forest-school sessions. They support children to learn how to carefully use tools, such as hammers and saws during woodworking lessons. These activities are taught by highly qualified and experienced staff. This ensures children's safety and maximises their learning.

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

• Staff expertly lead activities that promote children's listening and concentration skills. These support children to be ready to learn about letters and phonics when they begin school. Children learn 'fab vocab' as they listen to stories. Staff choose three tricky words from a story and explain their meaning to children during reading sessions. This supports children to understand challenging and ambitious words.
• Children benefit greatly from a range of rich-learning experiences. For instance, the nursery chef provides cooking lessons for the children. Children enjoy sports and music lessons led by external teachers. Leaders make sure that these activities are timetabled so that all children can access them throughout each year. These exciting experiences support children to build their confidence in developing a wide range of skills.
• Staff invite children to place a flower on the 'celebration bush' when they do something well, such as being kind to others. Pre-school children take part in the nursery council. This supports them to learn that their voice and opinions matter. Staff help children to learn about sustainability. Children find out about recycling and where their food comes from. These approaches help children to develop their understanding of their role as a caring citizen of the world.
• Parents are warmly welcomed into the nursery. They are invited for meetings to contribute to their child's two-year progress check. Leaders and staff offer drop-in sessions for parents to seek advice or talk about any issues. This fosters excellent parent partnerships and consistency for children's care and learning.
• Staff encourage parents to borrow books and activities from the nursery lending library. Staff direct parents' attention to those activities that best support their children's next steps in development. This helps parents to support their children's learning at home in a meaningful way.
• Staff communicate well with other health and education professionals. This helps them to put in place strategies to close any gaps in children's learning and development. Staff take part in training to help them support children in developing their speech and language skills. Leaders use additional funding to support children's individual needs. For example, they purchase resources and books to support children's understanding of feelings and their emotional well-being.
• Staff benefit from the knowledge and experience of qualified teachers who work in the setting. These teachers demonstrate good practice to staff and oversee their planning for children's learning. This ensures that staff are knowledgeable about what they want children to learn and how to achieve this.
• Leaders provide regular professional development opportunities for staff that relate to the needs of the children who attend the nursery. As a result, staff's skills and knowledge continues to develop and improve. Staff report high levels of well-being and support from leaders. Consequently, the nursery benefits from high levels of staff retention. This, in turn, ensures continuity for children and their families.
• The provider previously notified Ofsted about a breach to the early years foundation stage requirement for staff-to-child ratios. This means that the provider has met their legal responsibility to notify Ofsted. The inspector discussed this with the nursery leaders during the inspection. They have taken swift and appropriate action to ensure the ongoing supervision of children. There is no further impact on children's safety and well-being.