Little Learners Nursery and Preschool

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thoroughly enjoy attending this welcoming setting. They build affectionate bonds with the kind and caring staff, who know them well and are attentive to their needs. This helps children to feel safe and secure, and they settle well and are comfortable and at ease. Children explore the environment with confidence and make choices about their play. They interact positively with staff and speak happily about their friendships with other children.

Children respond positively to staff's high expectations. They follow the setting's routines, use good manners and are kind towards others. Children develop good levels of independence, including with their personal care. For instance, pre-school children learn to use the toilet independently and to serve their own meals and drinks. This will hold them in good stead when they start school.

Children enjoy a good range of interesting and enriching experiences, which sparks their curiosity and develops their love of learning. For example, older children are excited to observe and handle the ducklings that have recently hatched at the nursery. They learn to hold them gently and discuss what they have noticed, such as the ducklings' webbed feet and the noises they make. Children are keen to share what they already know about ducks. They speak confidently about seeing ducks swimming on visits to the park.

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

• Managers and staff provide a well-planned curriculum, which supports all areas of children's learning. They have a clear idea of what they want children to achieve at each stage of their development. For instance, they recognise that toddlers may need more help with sharing and taking turns. Therefore, they provide games that encourage these skills. This helps children to progressively build on what they know and can do.
• Staff monitor the children's progress closely and get to know them well. They ensure that any gaps in children's learning are swiftly identified and appropriate interventions are put in place. This ensures that children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, are not left behind in their learning.
• Children enjoy a wide variety of experiences, which allows them to learn from adults and to explore their own ideas. In general, these are planned and delivered well by staff. However, occasionally, during group activities, staff do not take account of the differing needs and abilities of children. Therefore, some children lose concentration or are not able to participate as much as their peers.
• Children from a diverse range of cultures and backgrounds are welcomed at the setting. Staff ensure that resources, activities and events help children to understand and celebrate their similarities and differences. This builds children's self-esteem and their respect for others.
• Children have lots of fun at the setting and clearly enjoy their learning. For instance, younger children are excited to explore the texture of shredded paper and giggle with delight as staff sprinkle it over them. They pretend it is snow and speak enthusiastically about their experiences of real snow. Staff recognise this as an opportunity to introduce new words to children, to further develop their vocabularies.
• Managers reflect on the provision and successfully identify areas where they can further develop their provision. For example, they know that listening to stories plays a key part in developing good language skills. Therefore, they have introduced 'core books', which are linked to children's current interest and topics, to help enhance children's love of stories.
• Staff say that they love working in the setting and feel well supported by leaders and colleagues. They say that they have access to a wide range of training, which helps them to develop their professional skills and knowledge. Staff speak enthusiastically about how they are working towards a professional qualification or a leadership role.
• Parents describe the staff as welcoming, warm and caring. They say that they can confidently leave their children at the setting without any worries about their safety or happiness. Parents comment on the regular and detailed information they get about their children's time at the setting through their discussions with staff or via an online app. They say that their children have gained confidence and developed their social and language skills due to their attendance at the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to ensure that they take more account of children's differing abilities when planning and delivering group activities.