Little People (Alwoodley)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy to attend this friendly nursery. Staff are nurturing and attentive to children's needs. They ensure that children feel a strong sense of belonging in the nursery by implementing an effective key-person system. Staff work hard to develop trusting relationships with children and parents. This helps children to build close bonds with staff. Children quickly develop the confidence which they need to explore and learn.

Staff know children well. They use information gathered from families to plan a range of fun, themed activities. They make sure that activities are relevant to children, based on their interests and build on their prior experiences. For example, children enjoy themed activities around the beach, such as building sandcastles and making 'ice cream' with dough, as many of them have recently been on holiday.

Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to develop a love of nature, which promotes their understanding of the world. Staff teach children about life cycles. Children enthusiastically explain that bees make honey and need pollen from flowers. Children carefully watch ladybirds in the garden, commenting on their spots and colours. They take great pride in growing peas in the garden and are eager to taste them. Children are amazed to find a bird's eggshell in the garden. Staff use the discussion as an opportunity to build on children's knowledge by asking questions which promote their thinking skills.

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

• Overall, leaders have developed a curriculum that is well sequenced. Staff understand how children learn. They know the stages of development that children are at and what they want them to learn next. Most children are engaged in learning throughout the day. However, on occasion, staff provide some learning experiences that are not sufficiently challenging enough for some children. This means that some children lose interest and are not able to make the best possible progress.
• Children develop a love of books and stories. Staff provide a library for children to take books home to share with their families. Staff film themselves telling stories and share these recordings with parents to show children at home. Children enjoy choosing their own books and snuggling up with staff to share them. They giggle as staff read in an engaging way. Older children recall stories and characters from favourite books. This helps children to build a good foundation for literacy skills, ready for the next stages in their education.
• Children behave well. Staff are good role models as they eat alongside children at mealtimes. Children show kindness as they help each other to put their boots on the correct feet. They are polite and welcoming to visitors. For example, children invite the inspector to look at a book with them. They confidently share their knowledge about different countries, such as Turkey and Spain. Later in the day, children thank the inspector for looking at the book with them.
• Staff support children's communication and language development very well. They model lots of language through their interactions with children. They listen and respond to what children say. Staff carefully repeat babies' attempts at saying new words and extend the simple sentences which young children say. Staff communicate clearly with children, which helps them to develop their understanding skills and become effective communicators.
• There is a positive and respectful culture across the setting. Staff respect children's wishes from the youngest age. For instance, they ask children if they can change their nappies. Staff wait for a response before taking children to the changing room. Children confidently ask to play outside, and staff follow their lead. Children feel a strong sense of self. They know that they have a voice in the nursery and feel able to express their wishes.
• Parents are complimentary about the nursery. They are happy with the communication that they receive from their child's key person. Parents praise the nursery for the role they play in helping children to make good developmental progress. They like the online system that they use as a two-way communication tool. Parents are encouraged to share experiences that their children have out of nursery, as well as receive information about their children from their key person. This joined-up approach helps staff and parents work together to support children's learning.
• Staff speak positively of the support that they receive from management. They praise the open-door culture adopted by leaders. Regular team meetings enable staff to share information about children. Leaders provide supervision meetings for staff. However, they are more of an informal one-to-one session and do not focus on identifying targeted areas for individual staff's professional development. This means that staff are not supported to raise their practice to an even higher level.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. Staff know children well. They make timely referrals to other professionals and put in place tailored plans of support to meet the individual needs of children. Children make good progress from their starting points, and they are prepared for the next stage of their education.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review opportunities for children's learning throughout the day to consistently provide enough challenge for all children to make the best possible progress
• ensure that supervision meetings are purposeful and that they contribute to improving staff's teaching to an even higher standard.