Little Monsters Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form close trusting relationships with their key person and staff. Younger children receive cuddles and comforting words of reassurance if they feel tired or upset. As a result, children feel safe and secure. Staff are gentle and caring in their approach, which contributes to a happy and relaxed atmosphere across the nursery.

Children take part in outings in the local village, such as visits to the farm and supermarket, which helps children to learn about people in their community and the world around them. Children benefit from enjoyable experiences that help them to develop an understanding of the natural world. For instance, Toddlers and babies enjoy helping to plant seeds and use spray bottles to water the plants in the garden. Older children become fascinated as they use magnifying glasses to search for worms and other insects hidden in soil. Staff extend their learning further and children help to create a wormery and sing songs about a wiggly worm. Children enjoy lots of singing and story-time routines as part of everyday practice to help support their literacy development.

Children thoroughly enjoy their time in the well-resourced outdoor areas and develop good physical skills. They confidently climb up the steps to the slide, ride on tricycles and have lots of fun when they run about and chase each other. Children develop good social skills, learn how to play with others and build friendships. For example, older babies giggle and squeal with delight as they take turns to play a spontaneous game of peekaboo through the window in the playhouse.

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

• Managers are passionate about what they do. They are ambitious and work closely with staff to design a curriculum where all children are given the best possible start to their early education. The managers and staff are highly reflective in their practice and strive for continuous improvement.
• Managers understand the importance of professional development. Staff benefit from regular supervisions and staff meetings, where they receive guidance and coaching to help raise the quality of education across the nursery.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Written feedback from parents is highly complementary. They write that their children flourish and that staff treat children 'as their own'.
• Managers are aware of the impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on children's communication and language. They use effective strategies, such as early screening tools to help identify where additional support may be needed.
• Although staff demonstrate a shared vision to promote children's communication and language, this is not yet consistent across the nursery. For example, on occasion, staff miss opportunities to introduce new words when children are participating in activities and engage them in high-quality interactions during everyday routines, such as mealtimes.
• Children enjoy sensory play and exploring different textures. Staff help babies to take off their shoes and socks to investigate the texture of bubble wrap with their feet. Staff hold their hands as babies excitedly jump up and down on the bubble wrap and say 'pop, pop'.
• Children enthusiastically participate in activities that encourage them to experiment and make predictions. For example, children gather toys to put into water and try to guess if the objects will sink or float.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Younger children are gently reminded to use kind hands' and to share. Staff help older children to recognise and articulate their feelings and emotions and share them with others. Children talk about times when they felt happy or sad. This helps them to understand that people have different feelings.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to develop their fine motor skills in preparation for early writing. For example, older children squeeze pipettes filled with different-coloured water and recall how to mix colours to create new ones. They use scissors safely to cut fresh flowers and create pretend potions.
• Managers and staff have created an inclusive nursery that values diversity and cultures represented in modern Britain. They plan activities and enjoyable experiences around celebrations and festivals, such as Chinese New Year. However, resources designed to teach children about diversity are not always readily available for children to play with.
• All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their starting points. The special educational needs coordinator and managers work closely with other professionals, to ensure that children with SEND receive tailored support for their individual needs.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop skills in providing consistent strategies to promote children's communication and language skills to the highest level
• provide more opportunities for children to develop their understanding and awareness of the diverse world in which they live.