Little Kidsown Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this friendly and caring nursery. Staff are attentive to children's emotional needs. They are empathetic towards children and support them to speak about their own feelings and emotions. Staff are on hand to give cuddles and comfort when needed, especially by younger or newer children. This supports children to build relationships and feel safe at nursery.

Staff plan a broad, varied and ambitious curriculum for children, which they have carefully designed considering the individual needs and experiences of children who attend the nursery. Children start their day eagerly with a 'wake and shake' song. They dance and move their bodies around in different ways to music they hear. Babies move on to use different tools to make marks on paper. They practise their bigger physical skills using soft-play equipment. Toddler-age children share stories with adults. They talk about illustrations they see in books. Outdoors, they enjoy exploring in sand and engage in pretend play with their peers. Older children are supported by staff to listen carefully to words they hear. They use props to segment the sounds that make up the words, which helps to promote their early reading and writing skills.

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

• Leaders and managers are passionate about the quality of provision they provide. They have high ambition for every child's care and learning. Staff receive high levels of support in their roles, which helps to reduce pressures they may face. A warm, family culture is created among staff, children and their families, which helps to prioritise everybody's individual needs.
• Partnership working with parents is embedded in everyday practice. Parents speak positively about the regular information they receive about their child's care and learning. Staff are aware of children who have other professionals involved in their life, and they work closely with parents to share and implement information and advice. This helps to provide continuity for children between the nursery and home.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well. Children are exposed to a breadth of vocabulary. They listen to stories and hear a wide variety of single words. Staff are skilful in supporting children who have limited use of English, or speak English as an additional language. They use actions and prompts, as well as some of their home language, to help children communicate their needs.
• Children make choices about their play and learning. They choose from an array of activities and experiences throughout the environment that staff provide, such as arts and crafts and messy play activities. Staff deploy themselves well and interact with children during their play. However, these interactions do not always build on and extend children's learning. Consequently, on occasions, some children lose focus and are not supported to consistently have highly positive attitudes towards their learning.
• Staff get to know every child well. They use information from their observations and assessments of children's development to identify what children need to learn next. Staff are familiar with children's next steps and use these to plan activities, which help them to make good progress in their development.
• Children behave well throughout the nursery. They learn how to take turns and share resources. Older children work well together. They listen to each other's ideas when completing jigsaw puzzles to finish the task.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is sound. Everybody is ambitious about their development and helping them to achieve the best possible outcomes. Children have individualised plans, which are well embedded to support their care and learning. Staff work alongside other professionals to help children reach their potential.
• Children's health and well-being are well supported. Children enjoy balanced and nutritious meals and snacks. Staff talk to children about the foods they eat, which helps them to make choices about their own lifestyle. Children enjoy ample time outdoors. They happily navigate activities in the nursery garden. Children also enjoy regular outings to the local park, where they have opportunities to develop their physical skills further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to build on their teaching skills so that they consistently extend children's learning.