Little Oaks Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy in the nursery. On arrival, they settle in quickly to play with their friends. Staff build warm and nurturing relationships with children, who regularly go to them for cuddles. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Children enjoy being with staff and readily include them in their games, such as when building towers together. Staff add the bricks at the top of the very high structures. They giggle together when their tower finally falls. Children independently choose the resources that interest them and decide on their direction of play. Staff make adaptations to arrange the play environments, so that all children can explore and learn.

Children behave well, toddlers respond well to staff's gentle reminders to use their good manners while the oldest children readily say please and thank you in response to staff and when speaking with their friends. Children enjoy learning and have many opportunities to practise what they have learned. For example, they access tools and resources for themselves, such as scissors, with support from staff to make snips in their paper. The nursery curriculum is designed to continually build on what children know and can do. Children gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for their next stage in learning and their eventual move on to school.

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

• The nursery curriculum has clear and ambitious intentions for children's learning. Staff use the information they gather from parents when children first start, to decide what children need to be taught next. They plan play experiences for children that will help them to build on their prior learning.
• Communication and language are promoted by staff through a range of songs, rhymes and the use of books and conversations that encourage children to use their speaking and listening skills. However, there is scope to build further on the methods used to help children, who require additional support to quickly catch up and make more rapid progress in this area.
• Staff regularly assess and amend the learning environments to ensure they meet the children's needs as these change. For example, babies have space to practise their physical skills. Furniture is arranged by staff to enable children to pull to standing and move between areas with the security of areas to hold on to. Older children enjoy an extended role-play area to help further engage them in imaginative play, including a shop.
• High importance is placed on the development of children's social skills. For example, while babies use their senses to explore musical instruments, they chuckle and smile with nearby babies and they shake their hands and listen to the sounds they make. The oldest children understand how to share. They ask each other for the resources they need, saying please and thank you when they help each other and give them the toys they need.
• Children begin to develop independence early as staff see that they are capable. For example, babies feed themselves at mealtimes while toddlers learn to manage their personal care. The oldest children manage a range of tasks for themselves, such as tidying away toys and dressing themselves in their coats. They begin to manage the fastenings with limited help from staff. Children receive the help they need from staff to learn how to use their cutlery at mealtimes.
• Staff say they feel supported by managers, who are approachable. Managers ensure that staff are provided with mandatory training, such as first aid and food hygiene. That said, staff are not provided with all of the support they need to ensure that the learning gained from training is maintained and kept current, to enable staff to fulfil their duties as confidently as possible.
• Parents are happy with the nursery. They say their children are well cared for by staff and enjoy attending. Parents comment positively on the detailed information they receive about their child's care and learning. They say that managers are visible in the nursery and are friendly and approachable.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build further on the methods used to help those children in need of additional support to develop their communication and language more rapidly
• provide staff with the opportunities to build confidence and strengthen the knowledge gained from training, so that it is kept current.