Little Treasures

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children learn in a calm, nurturing, home-from-home environment. They feel safe and secure in the care of the long-serving, dedicated and professional staff. Children happily enter the setting and separate with confidence from their parents. They form strong bonds with staff, who treat them with the utmost kindness and respect. Staff recognise each child as a unique individual and have the highest aspirations for all children. Every staff member is enthusiastic and passionate about delivering the best possible learning experiences for children. They meticulously get to know children's individual interests and developmental needs from the outset.

Children's personal, social, and emotional development is outstanding because of the dedicated and first-rate support that staff provide. Staff use highly effective strategies that are individual to each child. For instance, staff quickly identify children who struggle to manage their emotions. They offer calm and reassuring support, helping children to recognise how they are feeling and to regulate their emotions and behaviour. Children behave extremely well.

A strong collaborative approach helps children to transition through nursery. Staff ensure that children who are new to the setting settle swiftly. For example, they create individual 'family boards' with photographs of special people that they share with babies to reassure them. Staff take pre-school children to visit their new classroom. School teachers come to nursery to spend time getting to know children in their familiar environment. Four-year-old children, who are just starting school, transition seamlessly between home, the wraparound club and school. For instance, daily 'wake and shake' exercise sessions help children to feel more awake and ready for the school day. Children's emotional needs are superbly met and they become extremely settled and ready to learn.

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

• Leaders design a curriculum that is extremely well thought out and based on children's individual needs, experiences and previous learning. Staff precisely implement the curriculum and have very high expectations of every child.
• The long-serving manager and staff team give excellent consideration to children's communication and language development. Staff constantly model and introduce new words, so that children are exposed to an array of vocabulary. For example, as older children explore where hedgehogs live, they learn new words, such as 'nocturnal' and 'hibernation'. Staff regularly read a core set of books to children. This repetition helps children to develop favourite stories and get to know the storylines very well. Children gain the language and confidence to retell the stories independently during their free play. They develop an incredible love of stories and reading.
• The provision for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language is outstanding. Highly knowledgeable staff have a superb understanding of each child's individual needs. Their very carefully considered and highly successful interventions ensure that gaps in children's learning are swiftly addressed. Other agencies involved comment that the nursery provides, 'a very safe space for children' with 'exceptional support for children with SEND'.
• Leaders and staff work in strong partnership with parents. Parents are fully involved in their children's nursery life through initiatives, including the nursery's own library and health programme. Parents have opportunities to access first-aid training. Parents and children join in with healthy eating, fitness and emotional wellness initiatives. Staff share recipes with parents to encourage children to eat healthily at home. Children have fun creating healthy snacks, such as 'fruit kebabs' and 'overnight oats' at the setting. Staff involve children in wellness activities that support them to feel relaxed and calm. This impacts extremely positively on children's emotional health.
• Staff provide exciting experiences that motivate children to exercise every day. Children are extremely eager to take part in 'Funky Chicken' fitness sessions outside in the fresh air with highly enthusiastic staff. Children squeal with absolute delight as they joyfully move their bodies to the music and join in with the actions. This helps them to develop their balance and increase their agility, contributing towards their advancing physical skills.
• Children display exceptional behaviour and attitudes. They are exceedingly motivated and show high levels of perseverance. For example, older children worked collaboratively when they hunted for a toy bear that staff hid in a tree. They offered suggestions, such as using 'rocket jumps' and standing on crates, to try to retrieve the bear. Children tested their theories until they solved the problem. They learn and explore with confidence and determination.
• Leaders work exceptionally well together as a team to ensure the very high standards of the nursery are maintained. Leaders and staff are highly motivated and enthusiastic in their pursuit to improve. For instance, staff have accessed an abundance of training to help them in implementing language interventions. This has had a considerable impact on children's communication skills.