Little Hearts Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and excited to start their day at the nursery. They receive a warm and friendly welcome from the caring staff. Children are confident and routines are well established. Children independently take off their coats and shoes and put on slippers to wear inside the nursery.

The nursery is well resourced in both the indoor and outdoor environments. The manager has recently renovated the nursery to create a spacious environment for children to direct their own play and learning.

Children are well prepared for their next stage in education. Children in the pre-school room write their own names. Children engage in a writing activity and confidently write names of animals. They are also beginning to read. For example, children point to signs around the nursery and read them.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. The staff identify when children need additional help and are confident in making referrals and seeking advice from external agencies. This ensures children receive the best possible start to their education.

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

• Staff support early writing skills well. Children in the pre-school room engage in a threading activity. They place coloured beads on a piece of long thread. This helps to strengthen muscles in their fingers in preparation for writing.
• Younger children take part in water play and enjoy splashing their hands in the water. They pick up small-world animals in the water and then 'clean' them with small pieces of cloth. Staff support children by asking what sounds the animals make. Younger children also enjoy the sensory feeling of sand. Staff help them to fill the buckets with sand. This supports early mathematical concepts of 'full' and 'empty'. The children engage in a 'seaside' role play and pretend to make ice creams for the member of staff, showing good relationships between staff members and children.
• Children engage in a painting activity. They giggle with delight as staff members paint their hands. Children behave well and happily share the paints with others. Staff support children by asking what colours they would like to use. However, when questions are asked, some staff do not allow enough time for children to process the question and respond.
• Children enjoy storytelling sessions. They are happy and excited to read their favourite story. Staff skilfully tell the story, changing their tone, pitch and pace to thoroughly engage all children. The children immerse themselves in the story and shout out unanimously to questions asked by the member of staff. Children are kind and considerate to others. When a child becomes upset about not sitting on a 'big' chair, another child gets up and offers their seat to them.
• Managers are passionate about delivering a high-quality service to children and parents. However, they do not always fully understand the curriculum intent and, consequently, some staff are not clear about what they want children to learn from the activities. That said, managers ensure that staff undertake regular supervisions. Managers enhance the environment with stimulating and age-appropriate learning resources.
• Staff support children to be independent throughout their day at the nursery. Children independently wipe their own noses. They feed themselves using appropriate cutlery. The nursery provides healthy and well-balanced home-cooked meals which are freshly prepared by the nursery cook. Children thoroughly enjoy the meals. The cook and staff are aware of special dietary requirements. They provide alternatives that are clearly labelled.
• Parents are happy with the service that the nursery provides. They comment that staff have really helped their children with potty training. They speak highly of all staff members and feel that they are all friendly and approachable. Parents feel well supported to continue their children's learning at home. The nursery uses an online platform to share information with parents and they all comment that this works well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide children with enough time to think about and respond to questions that are being asked
• gain more knowledge of the curriculum intent to support staff to fully understand what they want children to learn.