Little Owls Nursery Little London

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are at the heart of everything staff do at this inclusive and welcoming nursery. Staff form positive relationships with children. Key persons know children well, including their experiences at home and where they are in their development. Staff thoughtfully plan a range of play experiences and activities that support and ignite children's curiosity and learning. For example, children develop their fine motor skills as they mould and shape clay to make small pots to celebrate Diwali. They decorate their pots in their own way and show great pride when they are completed.

Outside, children thrive at the opportunity to develop their physical skills. They climb trees and use ropes tied between the trees to balance on. Children wait patiently for their friends to finish on the bikes, indicating they know the expectations to take turns.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language are supported extremely well across the nursery. For example, small-group sessions are used to introduce new words. Children have been learning about the word 'shiny'. Staff use a metal ball to help children to understand what it means. These well-thought-out activities help children to make good levels of progress from their starting points.

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

• The passionate and dedicated managers have a clear vision for the nursery. Effective monitoring processes help the nursery to continually evaluate what they offer. It uses feedback from staff, parents and area leaders to plan what it can do next to reinforce children's learning and development. Supervision of staff's performance is regular and in depth. It provides support to ensure that teaching is of a good quality. Staff report on how valued they feel.
• The support for children with SEND is a real strength of this nursery. Timely referrals are made to ensure that children and their families receive the support they need. Staff understand the importance of working closely with a range of external agencies and parents. Children with SEND have personalised plans in place that include detailed strategies given by other professionals to meet children's needs. Managers use additional funding well to benefit the needs of individual children to assist them in accessing the curriculum. Children with SEND are consistently supported to make good progress.
• Leaders and staff prioritise children's communication and language development. Staff hold meaningful back-and-forth conversations with children. Staff naturally expose children to new words. For example, they introduce the words 'reverse' and 'sirens' when discussing the different sounds vehicles make. Staff give clear explanations to what the words mean to help children to understand the new vocabulary.
• Children's behaviour is well supported. For example, each morning, children self-register by putting their photo in individual emotion baskets to say how they feel. This helps staff to know how to support children each day, depending on how they are feeling. Staff offer gentle reminders, using visual prompts, of the rules and expectations. For instance, children know to hang their coats up when they come inside and to wear a yellow apron if they want to play in the water.
• Overall, leaders plan daily routines well. For example, visual timetables are used to help children understand the order of activities. Staff and children go through the 'now and next' timetable together as it happens. They remove the pictures as each part is finished. However, there are times during the day when staff do not always consider the needs of the youngest children when planning and implementing the curriculum. For instance, fewer staff interactions mean that children's communication and language skills are not fully supported consistently across the day.
• Staff have formed positive relationships with parents. They are provided with information regarding what their children are learning and their next steps in development. They feel very involved and valued in their children's learning and the nursery. For example, parents have the opportunity to come into the nursery and read stories to children in their home language. Parents state that every member of the staff, from apprentices to managers, are kind, caring and 'amazing'.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the organisation of routines for the youngest children to help them fully engage in their learning.