Little Leaders Childcare Melton

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children mostly come into the setting readily. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents now hand children over to staff at the door. Those children who need reassurance are sensitively supported by caring staff, who offer cuddles and gently support children to separate from their parent. This helps children to feel safe and secure. Children throughout the setting enjoy their interactions with staff and readily seek them out for a cuddle. Children invite staff to share in their play and learning. Children enjoy listening to stories and enthusiastically join in with songs and rhymes. Staff have high expectations of what children can achieve. They help children to understand their emotions and feelings.

Children who learn best from being outdoors are able to do so. Staff provide a lovely range of activities, both indoors and outside, that promote all areas of learning. Children benefit from interesting resources that ignite their natural instincts to discover and explore. For example, children have grown and harvested pumpkins as part of learning about living and growing. The pumpkins have now been cut open for children to explore and use them in their play and learning. Children chat with staff and each other as they use and explore the pumpkins.

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

• Staff get to know the children well. They talk confidently about where children are in their learning and development. Staff know what children need to learn next. They monitor children's progress across the areas of learning. Staff plan and provide for all areas of learning both indoors and outside.
• Staff provide a varied range of activities that meet children's play and learning needs. They engage well with children as they play and learn, building on what children already know and can do. However, staff are not always deployed effectively to help all children to participate and maintain their interest when taking part in activities. Staff are often disturbed from what they are doing with groups of children to do something else, disrupting children's concentration and learning.
• Children develop a good attitude to learning. This supports them to develop the key skills needed for the next stage in their learning, such as moving on to school. For example, when a member of staff sets up a phonics activity, both boys and girls are keen to go and do it. They join in enthusiastically. However, staff do not always pronounce initial sounds accurately when supporting children's developing awareness of naming and sounding the letters of the alphabet.
• Children are helped to learn about their emotions and feelings, and to consider the needs and feelings of others. Staff manage unwanted behaviour gently and sensitively. They support children's understanding of right from wrong and what is expected from them effectively. Good behaviour is valued and praised.
• Staff implement effective care practices to support children's good health and well-being. Children are helped to learn about the importance of good hygiene routines. They manage their personal hygiene needs relevant to their age and stage of development. Older children help serve their own meals.
• Staff in the setting support all children to develop a positive sense of themselves. They are effective in ensuring that all children are able to participate at their own level. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well to ensure that all children are included and make the best possible progress.
• Parents report that they are happy with the service provided, describing staff as 'friendly', 'caring' and 'professional'. They appreciate the good levels of communication that keep them informed about their children's day, learning and development. Parents are encouraged to remain involved in their children's learning.
• The management team has a clear vision to provide a high-quality care and learning experience for all children. Managers have a plan for improvement that is challenging but achievable. There is an effective system of supervision meetings to support staff's well-being, performance and training needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• deploy staff more effectively to consistently enable children to participate and maintain their interest when taking part in activities
• make the most of opportunities to help children learn to hear and say the initial sounds in words correctly.