Little Oaks Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy as they engage in purposeful indoor and outdoor play experiences. For example, in the outdoor planting area, children are supported to learn about the life cycle of plants and where vegetables come from. Staff continually provide a narrative as children play. They support babies to increase their vocabulary by putting two words together. For example, when babies say 'more' at snack time, staff encourage them to say, 'more please' or 'more snack'. As children get older, staff ask questions to further encourage children's communication skills.

Children remain safe, due to the vigilance of staff. Staff help children to develop close bonds, offering cuddles and reassurance when needed. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their surroundings. Children are developing into confident individuals, who are encouraged to value the uniqueness of others. Staff plan a range of activities to help celebrate all children's background and beliefs. For example, staff encourage parents of Romanian children to share details and images of how they celebrate Easter in their culture. These are shared and discussed with all children.

Parents are encouraged to take books home to read with their children from the lending library. This encourages children's love of books as well as their communication and language. The lending library also includes a range of bilingual books, which supports children who speak English as an additional language.

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

• Children enjoy decorating chicken eggs as they learn about how Easter is celebrated in Romanian culture. As part of the planned activity, they enjoy rolling their eggs around in coloured shaving foam. Staff incorporate lots of different learning into the activity. For example, they encourage children to count the number of eggs and to consider where eggs come from. Children initially say the shop, however, staff persist with their questioning until children correctly identify the eggs come from chickens.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are cared for in smaller groups, where a higher staff-to-child ratio is maintained. This helps staff to provide focused, targeted support to meet children's needs. Staff also work closely with other professionals, implementing the targets they set. This all contributes to supporting each child's learning and meeting their needs.
• Staff monitor children's progress and use this, along with children's interests, to build on their prior knowledge and skills. Parents are also encouraged to share information from home, enabling staff to plan further activities of interest for each child.
• Older children come straight in from outside to have their lunch. After washing their hands, as the room is not set up for lunchtime, this creates confusion as some children start to go off and play. When the children are directed to sit at the table, staff rush through the process of serving children's food. Quality interactions by staff are reduced for this brief period and it takes time for children to settle from being so active.
• Staff plan a range of interactive games to support two-year-olds to identify colours. Some staff caring for these children are exceptionally skilled at supporting children to sit, listen and follow instructions. However, older children are not consistently supported by staff to sit, listen and wait for their turn during large-group time activities. This leads to times were children talk over each other and some of them begin to lose focus in the activity.
• Staff in the baby room have recently introduced visual props to support children's more active engagement in short-group time activities. Staff provide each baby with a 'song spoon' to hold. On each side of the spoon is a different picture depicting popular nursery rhymes. Staff encourage each baby to look at the pictures as they ask them which song they would like to sing. Staff respond to babies' verbal and non-verbal cues as they make their choices known.
• Staff working with children aged two, regularly read a story where children are encouraged to move their mouth and tongue in different ways. This helps children to become aware of different parts of their mouth and to develop the movements needed for speech.
• Children's good health is promoted during the daily routine. Staff provide children with a toothbrush and send home an informative leaflet on how to support their good oral health.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support older children to learn how to sit, listen and wait for their turn during group activities
• consider how to ensure the lunchtime routine is more effectively organised for older children, so that quality learning experiences are consistently maintained.