Little Imp Pre-School Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children return from the Christmas break eager to see their friends and members of staff. Some children need a little bit of support to help settle back into their routine. Staff quickly reassure and comfort children until they are confident to join in with their friends. This helps children to feel safe and secure.

Children of all ages make independent choices in their play. They have a wide variety of resources and activities to choose from. These are carefully planned to meet the needs of the children attending. For example, in the baby room, they explore their senses as they paint. Babies feel the variety of textures in the books and listen to the different sounds of the instruments. They are beginning to concentrate on chosen activities. Children develop their hand-to-eye coordination as they separate the shredded paper.

Older children are immersed in imaginative play. Children pretend to be the teacher, reading a story and showing the children the pages in the book. 'Are you listening?', says a child, 'What colour are his eyes?' Children use ice-cream cones and foam to run an ice-cream van. They ask children what flavour they would like and tell them how much it costs. Children learn to understand the world around them.

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

• Children's learning and development are regularly assessed to ensure they are making good progress. This enables staff to identify any additional support children may need to build on what they already know and can do.
• The curriculum aims to ensure children develop skills and ensure they are ready for school. However, some staff in each room are not always clear about their role in implementing this. Some activities lack clear learning intentions and do not fully support children's learning.
• Strategies to support children's language skills have been introduced. For example, staff use language games with children that use lots of repetition of words. Children clearly say the names of the animals and match them to their cards. However, at story time, staff do not support all children to engage fully. This makes it difficult for some children listening to the story to concentrate and hear the words, to fully extend their language skills.
• Children are supported very well to develop their mathematical learning. For example, they demonstrate their understanding of number when they point out the number requested by the staff member. Children count out the matching number of counters into the tray. They consider if they need 'more' or 'less' counters than the previous number. Children make good progress in their mathematical learning.
• The nursery's special educational needs coordinator is experienced in her role and knowledgeable about the children who attend that require additional support. She works closely with children's key persons, families and agencies to ensure children receive timely support and interventions. Children make good progress in their learning and development, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.
• When children first start at the nursery, staff gather information about the children and what they like to do. Settling-in visits ensure children settle and become confident in the care of the staff with parents present. This promotes children's emotional security. However, staff do not always ensure that parents stay as requested on their visit. This results in some children becoming upset and unable to settle.
• Staff regularly complete training courses to ensure their skills and knowledge are current and relevant. The manager checks staff's understanding of the learning they have completed. Together, staff discuss how new learning ideas can be put into practice in the nursery to improve the outcomes for children.
• Partnership with parents is effective. Staff regularly share information through discussions or via the nursery's app. Parents receive a termly update on their child's developmental progress. A newsletter keeps parents informed about upcoming events and what the children will be learning over the next term.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff in each room understand what they want children to learn and how they will do this, to make sure children are ready for the next step of their learning
• develop storytelling to enable children to make even better progress in their speech and language development
• strengthen arrangements when children first start attending, to support their emotional well-being even further.