Little Stars at First Steps

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled. They have strong relationships with all the staff in the setting. This helps children to feel secure and confident. Younger children enjoy time with their key person for cuddles and reassurance. Children take part in activities which follow their interests. For example, they play with firefighter dressing-up resources and use cardboard tubes in their role play, after a child recently showed an interest in this. Children are supported in their behaviour by staff using positive reinforcement and praise for good behaviour.

Children arrive excited to begin their day. They find their friends and begin to play, with the support of welcoming staff. Children work together with peers in the construction area, pretending to be builders and building houses. Children display high levels of self-confidence and self-esteem. Older children confidently greet new people and are happy to talk to them about their experiences at nursery. For example, children in the pre-school room talk about how the sand needs to be wet to build sandcastles.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, parents do not come into the building when dropping off and collecting children. However, staff use methods, such as online learning journals, to ensure that parents are kept up to date with their children's learning and development.

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

• In the main, the manager has a clear focus on the curriculum. Children's learning is based around social development, physical abilities and communication skills. However, staff are not always clear about the intent of the learning for individual activities. This limits their ability to specifically build this learning provided as part of the wider curriculum.
• Managers monitor staff performance through regular supervisions and observing practice. However, plans for the professional development of staff are not precisely targeted to help raise the quality of teaching and ensure there is clear intent for learning.
• Staff gather children's starting points from parents. They use this information well to consider children's interests, development and next steps in learning.
• Children's physical skills are challenged regularly. They benefit from weekly forest school sessions, where they have the chance to explore environments that they would not normally be exposed to. They explore flowers and plant vegetables, which broadens their learning experiences. As a result, overall, children have access to a meaningful curriculum which supports their individual learning needs.
• Parents speak highly about the care, friendliness and support offered by staff.
• Many families have been attending for a number of years. Parents comment on how well the manager supports them in providing professional support and advice. As a result, children benefit from consistency between home and the setting.
• Staff use positive behaviour strategies to support children to learn right and wrong. They encourage children to take turns, and they listen and praise children for their efforts and achievements. This helps children to build good levels of self-esteem and be confident to try new things.
• Children learn how to keep themselves healthy. Staff encourage children to manage tasks for themselves at snack time. Children prepare their own snack, for example cutting and peeling fruit and pouring drinks. Children have plenty of opportunities for fresh air and exercise.
• The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) is good. Staff quickly identify children who need support. They liaise with other professionals and the local authority to create targeted plans to ensure children make good progress.
• The manager and staff value different cultures and implement these into the curriculum. Children visit the local mosque and they celebrated the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. As a result, children develop a sense of belonging in the setting and broaden their experiences.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop adult-led activities further to have a sharper focus on the learning intent and consider the knowledge and skills each individual child needs to acquire
• strengthen peer observations and supervisions to ensure that training needs are identified which link to each staff member's individual goals.