Little Steps Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at the nursery happy and excited. They receive a warm welcome from the friendly and caring staff team. Children have strong bonds with the staff and they settle quickly. They remove their coats and bags, hang them on their pegs and go off to find their friends.

Children's imagination and sensory experiences are promoted through interesting, well-planned activities. For example, baby room staff create a teddy bears picnic and invite babies to feed their teddies with porridge oats. Staff introduce a wide range of vocabulary. For example, they describe the texture and sound of the oats and introduce mathematical language through counting and naming shapes and sizes. Babies practise the skills they require to become independent, such as learning to feed themselves.

Staff support children to develop a good understanding of the nursery rules. Children are well behaved. They listen to instructions, share and take turns. For example, when staff shake the tambourine, children stop what they are doing and listen to the instructions for tidy-up time. Children demonstrate that they understand why rules are in place and the impact that their behaviour has on others.

The nursery is recovering well from the challenges faced with staff retention and recruitment during the COVID-19 pandemic. There is now a stable staff team in place. This helps to support the delivery of consistently good-quality teaching and learning.

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

• Since registration, leaders have made changes to the organisation of space. For example, children aged from two to four years are now grouped together. Staff are beginning to make good use of the small nurture groups to help support individual learning. The very youngest children are supported by their peers to access the wide range of learning experiences available to them. However, sometimes, staff do not deploy themselves effectively in the large open-plan space. This means that there are occasions when children are not engaged in meaningful play and learning.
• Leaders have a strong vision for the nursery and continually strive to support the developing staff team. Staff receive coaching and supervision to improve their practice. However, this is not consistent. Weaknesses in the practice of less-experienced staff are not always identified and improvements targeted, to help to strengthen the quality of education and ensure that children acquire the intended skills.
• Overall, the quality of education is good. Staff plan exciting activities to stimulate children's imagination and curiosity. Pre-school children explore blocks of ice which contain cucumber, herbs and fresh mint. As the ice melts, children expertly use tools to scoop up the mixture and smell the herbs and mint. Furthermore, staff extend children's vocabulary as they encourage the children to describe the textures and smells. Children say they are making 'soup'. Children make links in their play to build on what they know and can do.
• Staff encourage and talk about kindness with children. They model how to be polite and recognise when children are considerate to one another. When children are upset, they are cuddled and soothed by staff and told that it is all right to feel sad when their mum has gone to work. Children are developing empathy and an understanding of their feelings and those of others.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff are patient, nurturing and attend to children's needs. They work with parents and other professionals to implement tailored teaching and care routines. All children make good progress and are developing their skills for future learning.
• Partnership working with parents is strong. Parents speak highly about their children's experiences at the nursery and how their learning and development are supported. They know who their child's key person is and feel well informed about their child's progress. Parents comment positively on how the nursery provides support for the whole family and the impact this has on their children's well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide all staff with effective supervision and targeted opportunities that support their ability to consistently deliver a high-quality curriculum
• improve staff deployment in the open-plan room to help provide all children with consistently good levels of support.