Little Learners Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and confidently engage in a wide range of activities. They are greeted warmly by the staff and settle quickly. Children show high levels of self-esteem as they carry out self-care tasks. For example, toddlers attempt to wash their hands and faces, and older children see to their toileting needs. Staff interactions support children's learning well. This means children are motivated to learn and to explore their environment. Babies enjoy exploring shaving foam and paint, which helps them to develop the muscles in their hands in readiness for later learning. Children confidently use magnifying glasses to investigate insects and identify their body parts. Older children talk animatedly about different buildings, how they are constructed and the materials used. They use this information to create their own buildings outside.

Children are well behaved. They understand the flow and routines of the nursery and are respectful of one another. Children play well alongside others, sharing resources and learning to take turns. Staff provide many opportunities for children to communicate with each other and to work collaboratively. The newly appointed manager is aware of the nursery's strengths and areas of development and has implemented new ways of working. Parents are complimentary about the care and support provided to their children. Children are well prepared with the essential skills to move into the next room or on to school.

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

• Babies enjoy a wide range of sensory experiences which staff use to promote other learning. Staff talk and sing to babies throughout all activities. Staff model animal noises as they move the animals through the coloured foam. This supports children's growing communication skills.
• Staff place great significance on getting to know the children's individual needs. They work effectively with parents to gather as much information as possible about children who are new to the setting. Staff take the time to get to know the children in their care. Consequently, children feel safe and seek out key staff for comfort when needed.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Staff work closely with parents and professionals to ensure that children's needs are met. Staff implement strategies to help close any gaps in children's learning. For example, they use sign language to help non-verbal children to communicate.
• Staff are skilled communicators who engage children well in conversations. They make effective use of questions to help children think and make predictions, such as what colour will be created when two colours are mixed.
• Songs and rhymes are an integral part of most activities. Staff use specific songs to help children know what is happening next. Staff introduce new vocabulary, such as 'mortar', 'slate' and 'antenna', to extend children's learning.
• Children have good opportunities to practise their mark-making skills. They use a range of materials such as chalks, different-sized paintbrushes and pencils with increasing confidence to create patterns and a hopscotch grid and to attempt to form letters.
• Children are emotionally resilient and are developing an understanding of staying safe. They remind staff to put out signage after spillages and encourage their friends to hold the banisters as they go up and down stairs.
• Children use mathematical language well. They happily count ducks as they slide down chutes, and they recognise a range of numbers in the environment. Children talk about shapes and concepts such as more than and less than as they fill containers with water.
• Overall, children make good progress. Key staff know their children well and provide specific activities to help them build on their prior learning. However, recent changes to curriculum planning and assessment are not yet rooted into staff's practice. This means occasionally, staff do not focus children's next steps sharply enough to extend children's learning to the highest level.
• The new manager has a clear vision and improvement plan for the nursery. Following a nursery restructure, staff are developing well as a team. Staff training enhances their knowledge and skills effectively. However, opportunities for staff to share good practice with colleagues are not embedded. That said, staff are committed to providing the best possible care and education to children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to firmly embed the new curriculum so that they can focus more clearly on what children need to learn next and help them to gain the most from the available learning opportunities
• encourage staff to share their skills and good practice with each other to build on the quality of education throughout the nursery.