Little Treasures Nursery And Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children come in happily and settle well in all rooms. They enjoy taking part in a range of activities that support their development across the areas of learning. They benefit from the attention from staff who have high expectations of them. Children delight in exploring different activities and ideas. They learn about how different materials mix and combine, as they fill bowls with flour, water and cocoa powder. They add foam and fill their bowls to the brim, letting them overflow into a volcano. Children exclaim with delight that they have made a 'chocolatey volcano!'

Children develop their speaking skills alongside adults who help them to learn new words, such as 'pipette'. They are able to follow their own ideas as they make a play shop and fill it with things they bought on a real shopping trip. This helps children to learn about real-life experiences. Children have plenty of opportunities to develop their hand coordination, such as scooping, pouring, sticking and moving water from one bowl to another with a ladle. Babies stretch and grow their muscles, as they use tweezers and scoops to move pasta from one tray to another.

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

• The manager has made considerable improvements since the last inspection. She has a clear plan to continue developing the nursery and works with staff to include their views. Staff have opportunities to watch each other work to reflect and learn from the team. They report that they feel well supported. Recent improvements to the programme of professional development have helped all staff to understand more about their roles and responsibilities, particularly in how to keep children safe.
• Staff understand the learning intentions of activities and, overall, deliver these successfully. Children spend the bulk of their time engaged in purposeful activity that supports their development. Staff consider children's learning needs when planning activities, for example finding ways to introduce new language to children during messy play activities. They gently correct children's speech when they miss out words or sounds, to help them become confident communicators.
• Staff are good role models to children who know what is expected of them and behave well. Children keenly involve staff in their play, acting out the story of the 'Three Little Pigs'. Children identify that the wolf could not blow down the brick house and fetch a police officer to arrest him. Children develop their independence as they manage their own care needs. Even younger children learn to put aprons on to use the water tray, and find their coats to go outside.
• Arrangements to identify and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities help them to reach their potential. The manager has improved relationships with other settings that children may attend, and other professionals in their lives. This has improved children's access to extra help when needed.
• Children understand, and can use, a wide range of mathematical language, such as 'full, empty, bigger' and 'smaller'. This helps them to explain different ideas. However, sometimes staff do not help them to build on this knowledge to think about what might happen next.
• Staff share children's progress with their parents and parents appreciate the feedback they receive about their children's care. Staff help parents support children's learning at home. Recent projects on children's houses helped involve parents in their children's learning and development. They drew and wrote about where they live with their children. Children continued this learning in nursery as they made different drawings of types of habitat and set up their homes in the nursery play areas.
• Overall, the nursery environment supports children's learning. Staff have made changes to layouts of indoor areas to help all children follow their own interests more successfully. However, plans to improve the outdoor learning space, so that children have the same high-quality learning experiences as indoors especially in the winter months, have yet to take effect.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of the outdoor area to enable children to have equally high-quality experiences outdoors, as well as indoors, at all times of year
• help staff to extend activities for all children to help them make connections and develop their critical thinking.