Little Stars Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff provide a welcoming and inclusive environment for children. Staff build strong relationships with parents and work with multi-agency professionals to ensure that children make the best possible progress. They consider advice from specialist professionals to plan for children's learning. This helps staff to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) through individual learning plans.

Staff know children well. Children are happy to share their home experiences as they build relationships with their new key person. Staff can identify where children are in their learning and how they can support them to develop. This adds to children's sense of belonging and helps to boost their self-esteem.

Staff are clear with children on the expected boundaries. During circle time, staff remind older children to use their 'listening ears' and 'quiet voices'. Children confidently demonstrate the actions to show their understanding. They concentrate well and are eager to learn in group activities. Staff give clear instructions to younger children as they take their turn to cut fruit. This supports children to learn how to keep themselves safe.

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

• Leaders have designed a well-sequenced curriculum. They adapt this to the current cohort of children to support their learning. Staff ensure that the curriculum suits children individually. Overall, they plan children's learning using their interests and to develop their next steps according to their age and stage of development.
• Staff support children's literacy, communication and language. For example, staff help children who speak English as an additional language and children with delays in their speech to build their vocabularies using songs and stories with repetitive phrases. Younger children learn new words as they explore the texture and taste of the fruit.
• Staff do not always help children to use a wider range of words to express how they are feeling, to help to support their emotional development. This leads to children being disruptive at times, as they are not able to manage their own feelings and behaviour.
• Older children develop a positive attitude to their learning, as staff follow their ideas in play. For example, children work together while using their imaginations to create a house. Staff use open-ended questions and supply a range of resources to develop their ideas further.
• Staff do not always follow the younger children's lead when they are exploring the world around them. For example, staff restrict children's play in natural areas of the garden and restrict them from moving toys from one area to another. This means that staff do not use all opportunities to ensure that all children make the best possible progress in all areas of their learning.
• Staff promote children's healthy lifestyles, such as through daily interactions and focused activities. Staff explain to younger children that fruit is healthy and gives them energy. Older children can identify healthy and unhealthy foods confidently.
• In the garden, children practise using their physical skills as they run, jump and climb. For example, children climb the large play equipment and roll small and big hoops down the ramp to staff with excitement.
• Staff promote children's good health. For instance, children wash their hands before meals and during food-based activities. However, staff do not help children to understand why they need to wash their hands. This means that children do not learn the importance of some personal care routines.
• Parents say that they develop positive relationships with leaders and their children's key persons. They receive regular updates through an online application.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to help children to understand and express their feelings and behaviour
• continue professional development to build all staff's confidence in being able to follow children's individual interests to support learning and development
• develop staff's teaching to extend children's understanding of the importance of personal care routines to support their learning and understanding of good health.