Little Monkeys Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Experienced leaders and highly skilled staff have developed a bespoke curriculum that details the building blocks for children's learning and development. This is implemented effectively at every level. Staff carefully consider and choose a range of resources and highly effective activities, which are organised with clear intent for all children's learning. Children display high levels of curiosity and a sense of wonder in this stimulating environment. For example, while preparing their own lunch, children instinctively fetch magnifying glasses to look at the lettuce leaves they have grown in the garden. Children say, 'We grew the lettuce from seeds,' and, 'They need water and the sun to grow, and the leaves breathe.' Children's behaviour is exemplary. They automatically help their friends and show consideration for others' needs.

All children, including children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, flourish due to staff's strong commitment to putting children at the heart of everything they do. Staff build extremely effective relationships with parents and other professionals to swiftly identify children's needs and emerging interests. This means that any tailored, nurturing support that may be required to help children to make the best progress is quickly put in place. This contributes to children being exceptionally well prepared for their future move on to school.

Children are incredibly happy, content and highly enthusiastic in this nurturing and fully inclusive nursery. They come into nursery happy to attend and are greeted by attentive, kind and caring staff, who support them to settle with ease. As a result, children quickly develop the confidence to leave their parents and carers at the door and confidently play in the enabling environment. Children demonstrate secure attachments to familiar key persons and display a strong sense of belonging throughout the nursery.

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

• The curriculum is embedded across the whole nursery. The highly skilled staff have an exceptional understanding of how children learn. As a result, children thrive, as their experiences are consistently built on, follow their interests and are tailored to their individual and specific needs. Children's attitudes to learning are strong. They confidently join in, make decisions and use enquiry, curiosity and their own theories to predict situations. Children are involved in their own learning. For instance, when a letter is received in the post, they look at the stamp, decipher the letter sounds of the country of origin and check the map to see how far away the country is. Their inquisitiveness and curiosity help children to become lifelong learners and make outstanding progress.
• Parents speak extremely highly of the nursery and the outstanding experiences that children receive. They comment that staff truly go 'above and beyond' with the support they offer. Parents comment on the incredible progress their children are making. They say that all staff are 'fantastic' and know their children well. Parents say they feel involved in their children's learning. They love the way the nursery celebrates the inclusiveness of the community and the families who attend the nursery. They enjoy being invited into the nursery to share their experiences, languages and job roles with the children.
• Children develop a love of stories, books and songs from an early age, becoming enthralled as staff bring stories to life. Babies enjoy handling puppets while singing 'Old MacDonald' and feeling and tasting different fruits after reading 'The Hungry Caterpillar'. Staff stimulate older children's curiosity as they read descriptive words with enthusiasm. Children excitedly join in and remain highly engaged and captivated throughout.
• Leadership in the nursery is inspirational. The highly qualified and experienced leaders ensure that their strong vision and clear ethos are threaded throughout the play-based curriculum. Staff benefit from the excellent training and support they receive through regular supervision and meetings. Leaders are very aware of ensuring that the well-being of staff is recognised and considered. They value the views of staff, children and parents.
• Children learn about their community and the world around them. They see diversity in activities and resources and enjoy visits from a variety of people who help them in the community. For example, mountain rescue and the police visit the nursery to help children learn how to keep themselves safe. Children enjoy animal and tractor visits with the local farmer. All of this broadens children experiences and knowledge of the world.
• Children demonstrate excellent independence. Staff value and praise children's efforts to build on their self-care skills. For example, they support potty training and encourage children to dress themselves without support. Consequently, children develop resilience and perseverance to succeed with tasks unaided. Staff are highly effective at promoting healthy lifestyles with children, including encouraging healthy eating, oral hygiene and active physical play outdoors.