Little Starz Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The nursery is very welcoming. It is clean and bright with interesting displays. It is well organised, so children can move about freely and feel safe and secure. Children have close bonds with their key persons. They benefit from sharing well-planned activities, which give them opportunities to learn across a broad and balanced curriculum. Staff have high expectations and focus particularly on helping children with their social and language development. Children make good progress and are active learners.

Children are very well behaved. They keep busy and play happily together, sharing ideas, and are eager to learn new things. They listen to and follow instructions well. For example, they line up to ensure they come in from outside safely. Children listen to stories and songs attentively. They remember rhymes and recall the events in a story. For example, they know how a caterpillar turns into a butterfly.

Parents are very pleased with the information they receive about their children's progress and the support that the setting offers their families. Leaders acknowledge the difficulties that parents face following the COVID-19 pandemic and offer support to minimise anxiety, such as by retaining routines that help children settle quickly.

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

• Managers constantly seek to improve the quality of the setting and consult with staff regularly to gather their ideas and aspirations. They try out new ways of planning to enhance the provision, and monitor the effectiveness of the planning and assessment, so that children do not have gaps in their learning. Management uses additional funding effectively by the provision of extra resources and specialist staff to meet children's needs.
• The curriculum is organised and adapted appropriately for the children's developmental level and those with additional needs. This helps staff plan effectively. However, there is some inconsistency in the understanding of the learning intent of some activities which means some learning opportunities are missed.
• Staff are supported well by managers through regular meetings and have opportunities to pursue their professional development through further training, such as portage work. This means staff have a clearer understanding of how to break down learning into achievable steps.
• Staff know the children very well and are very sensitive to children's emotional needs. Their kind and nurturing approaches support children in timely and effective ways to enhance the children's well-being.
• Staff help children learn independent skills. For example, they help babies with the sequence of washing their hands after messy play and support toddlers who are learning to use cutlery.
• Staff are clear about next steps for children and use every opportunity for children to learn through everyday activities. For example, by introducing counting when children are jumping off the pallets or counting the spoons for lunch.
• Staff listen to children and respect their views and efforts. For example, children bring in special collections of pine cones and leaves. Staff make sure that these are valued, incorporating them into the day's activities.
• Staff skilfully adapt activities to help children pursue their own imaginative ideas, such as when children want to extend the tissue paper 'hair' all around the plate to make a 'mane'. However, there are some instances when children are not being sufficiently challenged and encouraged to develop their critical thinking to solve problems.
• Children have opportunities to learn about the diverse local community by taking bus trips to the shops or the library and walks to the local park with staff.
• When children move on to the next stage in their learning, there is opportunity for them to become familiar with the local primary school and reception teacher. Staff with key roles attend school entry meetings to ensure continuing support for children with additional needs.
• Parents speak highly of the staff and the support they give to the families, especially to those whose children have additional needs, which includes sharing ideas about home activities. They welcome the information and photographs that are sent regularly about their children's interests and what they have been doing day to day. Parents appreciate using the online tool to be able to relay their own messages and information. They also appreciate how well the setting keeps them informed, during parents' evenings, for example.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staff's deeper understanding of the intent of the curriculum so that children gain greater benefit from the learning opportunities during activities
• provide further opportunities for children to develop their critical thinking and learn to solve problems.