Little Miracles Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders create a welcoming atmosphere where children are happy, settled and enjoy their day. Staff go to great lengths to make sure that even very new children feel safe and secure. They adapt children's routines and work with parents from the start to find out about children's preferences and interests. For example, children benefit from listening to their favourite nursery rhymes as they arrive, and staff ensure that they have their comfort toys to hand, if needed. Staff respect children and value their contributions. Children confidently choose their favourite stories for staff to read and decide whether to play inside or outdoors. This helps children to make decisions and enhances their self-confidence.

Children are developing good social skills and understand behavioural expectations. For example, they are self-motivated to join in with tidy-up routines and take pride in their work. Older children capably resolve their own conflicts. For instance, as other children ask for a resource that they are using in the sand, they offer a similar resource instead, which their peer happily accepts. This contributes to the calm and friendly feel to the nursery.

Leaders implement a curriculum for children that, overall, meets their individual learning needs. Staff focus on children's next steps during activities and free play and help them to develop new skills. For example, young children enjoy joining in with nursery rhymes and songs and are supported by staff to learn the actions. Children make good progress during their time at the nursery and are well prepared for their next stage in learning.

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

• Staff help to promote children's communication and language skills in a range of ways. For example, children gasp with excitement as they join an animal-themed activity. Staff ask children thought-provoking questions. Children confidently use prior learning to discuss the habitats of animals, such as cheetahs. Staff explain to children about other places that animals may live, such as the forest. This helps to promote children's critical-thinking skills and extends their vocabulary.
• Leaders' intentions for the curriculum are for children to become independent. Staff do teach children some independence skills, such as using the toilet and washing their hands. However, at times, staff quickly step in and complete tasks that children are more than capable of completing themselves. For example, they serve snacks, meals and drinks to children and put their coats on for outdoor play. This means that children are not consistently encouraged to practise a full range of independence skills.
• Leaders successfully establish strong partnerships with parents. Staff share a good two-way flow of information about children's care and learning. They provide simple ideas for parents to enhance children's learning at home. Leaders gather the views of parents, such as through questionnaires. They use this information to develop the nursery's action plan. One recent change, based on parental feedback, has been the development of the garden area to include more areas for children to explore. This good partnership working contributes to positive outcomes for children.
• Leaders offer staff support through coaching, supervision sessions and staff meetings. They ensure that staff complete mandatory training, such as first-aid and safeguarding training. However, leaders do not provide staff with targeted professional development plans in order for them to develop their practice to a consistently high quality. As such, there are some minor inconsistencies in the delivery of the curriculum for all children.
• Leaders complete suitability checks when staff first start, and ongoing suitability is verified throughout their employment. They ensure that staff's safeguarding knowledge is up to date, such as through questioning and quizzes. Staff are confident in what action to take in the event of a concern about the behaviour of a colleague or a concern about a child's safety or welfare. This helps to ensure children are kept safe from harm.
• Staff teach children about differences and similarities between themselves and others. For example, they display images of different families and cultures in the role-play area. Children are inquisitive about these images as they play. They ask age-appropriate questions that staff answer to enhance their understanding further. This helps children to develop an understanding of the wider world.
• Children's good health is promoted well. For instance, leaders provide children with a healthy and well-balanced menu. Children enjoy playing outdoors where they access plenty of fresh air and exercise. They enjoy planting and growing their own vegetables that they get to taste. This supports children to develop healthy lifestyles.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to implement the intended curriculum and provide consistent opportunities for children to develop their independence skills even further
• provide staff with targeted professional development plans and opportunities for them to enhance their practice to a higher level.