Little Millers Day Nursery and Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy their time at nursery. They eagerly explore this homely environment and engage with their chosen activity. Children develop good relationships with their friends. For example, babies take part in back-and-forth communication. They laugh as they take turns to make funny noises at each other. Children are keen to join in with story time. Toddlers are enthralled as they listen to a story about a superhero potato. They delight in helping to retell parts of the story. Children excitedly point out where the familiar book characters are hiding and what happens next. This supports children to develop a love of books.

Children are keen to take part in adult-led activities. For example, pre-school children thoroughly enjoy baking. Children keenly help staff by fetching ingredients from the fridge. They take turns measuring out ingredients and stirring the mixture. Staff present children with extra challenge. They encourage them to use the recipe card to identify how much flour they need. Children watch the scales and notice as the number becomes too high. This helps children's growing mathematical knowledge. Children cooperate as they use spoons to remove the extra flour. They are learning to keep safe. Children state they need to be careful with the cheese grater as it may hurt their fingers.

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

• The provider has taken a positive approach in response to the last inspection. Managers have conducted a full safeguarding audit which has led to them updating nursery policy. Staff have been supported to gain a robust understanding of safeguarding, including the 'Prevent' duty guidance.
• Staff understand how to implement the nursery curriculum to help children continually learn and gain further knowledge. They know the children well and have planned appropriate next steps which build on what children already know and can do. To this end, all children are making good progress from their starting points.
• Staff provide opportunities for children to develop their physical skills. For example, babies gain confidence as they climb small steps on the baby slide. Staff give a helping hand if needed. Toddlers carefully walk up and down the grassy embankment, closely supervised by staff. Pre-school children walk across a balance beam they have created with staff. This helps children develop their muscle strength and coordination skills.
• Overall, large-group activities help pre-school children to learn. For example, children sit during carpet time and share their experiences of a recent school visit. However, some children lose focus and disengage. They choose to distract others by flicking water at them. This means children's learning is disrupted as they are unable to fully engage in the activities.
• Staff provide children with healthy meals and fresh drinking water. They ensure children's dietary requirements and allergies are fully catered for. Children confidently talk about foods that are healthy and unhealthy. They know they need to brush their teeth to keep them clean.
• Staff help children develop their small-muscle skills. For example, babies enjoy popping bubbles with their fingers and staff encourage them to say 'pop, pop'. Toddlers concentrate as they use felt-tip pens to make marks. Staff name colours as toddlers draw lines and squiggles. Pre-school children squash and roll dough. They notice the heat is making the dough hard. They ask staff for water as they think this will fix it. Staff provide spray bottles. Children carefully squirt water and are pleased that this has made the dough soft. This helps children develop the muscles they need for early writing.
• Children are supported to be independent. Staff help children develop key skills such as accessing the toilet themselves, putting tissues in the bin and using cutlery. However, on occasion, staff can be overly helpful. They do not always allow children time to pour their own drinks or fully serve themselves food at lunchtime.
• Parents are positive about the care their children receive. They feel their children are developing their communication skills and have made friends. Parents feel their children are making good progress and are ready for school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of large-group activities with pre-school children to make sure they remain focused, which will ensure their learning is not disrupted
• support staff to embed children's growing independence skills within routine activities.