Little Owls (Scunthorpe) Ltd West

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Nursery leaders are very committed to supporting families in the local community. Staff ensure that all children and their parents receive a warm welcome right from the start. This results in strong relationships between home and the nursery. Staff are caring and attentive to children's different needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are very well supported. Staff work closely with other professionals, such as the community health visitor, to make sure that children can get the best support available.

Children have excellent opportunities to develop their physical skills. They learn to ride bicycles, scooters and other wheeled equipment. Children use the available space well, and become confident as they master how to balance and steer the vehicles themselves. Staff are vigilant to ensure that children remain safe, while encouraging them to continue to develop their physical abilities.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the nursery closed for a time. Staff kept in touch with families during the closure to maintain the partnerships they have built together. Leaders made sure that children were able to continue learning while the nursery was closed. They provided learning materials for children to use at home. The nursery has recently implemented new ways to communicate with parents, which are proving highly successful.

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

• Staff introduce new books, songs and rhymes to support children's early literacy skills. They make sure that they also plan times to read stories and sing songs that are children's favourites. Children find out that books can provide them with information. For example, they look at books to find out about famous landmarks in London.
• Staff have had to adapt previous arrangements as children get ready to move on to school, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They continue to have good links with local schools and share relevant information. This helps individual children's needs to continue to be met.
• Children are generally motivated by the range of available resources and explore them with increasing independence. They show good levels of cooperation as they share resources and learn to take turns during activities.
• Parents spoken to during the inspection are full of praise for the nursery. They are keen to talk about the difference it has made to their children's confidence and social skills. They value the daily information that they receive from staff, which gives them reassurance that their children are happy and settled.
• Staff ensure that children have opportunities to talk about their needs and feelings. Children know that staff listen to them and value what they say. This helps to support children's emotional well-being and self-esteem.
• Children respond positively when staff join in with their play. Staff use these times effectively to extend children's communication skills. They explain the meaning of new words, for example, during a cooking activity. Children are encouraged to use these words, such as 'whisk' and 'rolling pin', to show that they have remembered and understand their meaning.
• Nursery leaders identify staff's well-being as a priority. Staff have regular supervision meetings to discuss their workload and any potential issues. Staff know that they can talk to nursery leaders at any time. There is an ethos of trust and strong partnerships across the nursery.
• Overall, the curriculum is well planned and nursery leaders are clear about what they want children to learn. However, on occasions, children are less engaged because staff do not match their teaching to the different stages of children's learning. At these times, what is being taught is too difficult for some children and not challenging enough for others.
• All staff are actively involved in identifying the strengths and areas for development in the nursery. Nursery leaders make sure that staff have opportunities to continue their professional development. They make good use of the local authority and online training to further staff's development.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan teaching more carefully to provide the right level of challenge for all children's different stages of development.