Little Wellies Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive at this fun and caring nursery eager for the day ahead. They enter their play spaces confidently and choose what they would like to play with from the thoughtfully designed environment. Rooms reflect the children's current interests, and staff plan activities to build on what children already know and can do. For example, staff are currently working on developing the children's physical health. Children enjoy creating large-scale floor paintings. They stretch and reach their arms to make colourful marks on paper. Managers have invited football coaches and dental professionals into the nursery to help children become more active and to promote dental health.

Kind and caring staff form strong bonds with their key children. These warm relationships ensure children feel safe and secure throughout the nursery. The settling-in process supports these relationships and establishes good partnerships with parents. For example, babies enjoy warm, nurturing interactions with key staff. Staff sing gentle lullabies to them and support babies to explore foam bubbles in a tub. Staff have high expectations of the children. Children behave well and show kindness to their friends. For example, two-year-olds enjoy sharing the toys in the mud kitchen. They giggle and smile at one another as they search for spiders and worms.

Managers made changes to pre-school routines during the COVID-19 pandemic. These adaptations kept children safe and limited cross-infection. The majority of these changes have now been reversed. Parents enjoy being able to come into the nursery environment to see what the children have been learning about.

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

• Leaders and managers of the nursery are committed and professional. They demonstrate a drive for continuous improvement and have made changes to the nursery to promote the children's independence. For example, the outdoor area for two-year-old children has recently been refurbished. Children are now able to confidently move around the space and independently access the range of resources available.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Early intervention strategies are put in place quickly. For example, children with speech and language delay benefit from targeted one-to-one support. These interventions are having a positive impact on children's progress and development.
• Children are developing a love of reading. For example, babies enjoy reading books with their key person. Staff skilfully bring the pages alive by using visual cues and animated voices. Babies point at the pictures, laugh and smile as they babble words back to their supportive adults. Older children read familiar stories outside, and they repeat refrains and anticipate what will come next in the story. Staff use the illustrations to teach children about feelings and emotions.
• Overall, staff at the nursery have created an environment that supports children's speech and language development. For example, at dinner time, three- and four-year-old children participate in thoughtful conversations with staff. Staff listen intently to these children. They extend the children's learning by introducing interesting new vocabulary at appropriate times.
• Overall, the quality of teaching at the nursery is good. However, this is not consistent across all rooms. Inconsistencies in teaching are not always quickly picked up on and addressed by managers. This means that children do not always experience interactions of the highest quality. For example, two-year-olds are not always given enough time to process what has been asked by adults. Children are therefore not able to fully develop their thoughts and formulate their words.
• Staff report that they love working at the nursery and with the children they care for. They feel very supported by managers and leaders. They tell the inspector that managers have significantly reduced paperwork in order to maximise the time staff spend interacting with children. Managers regularly monitor staff health and well-being and operate an open-door policy to address any workplace issues.
• Parents are happy with the nursery. They report that children enjoy attending and settle into the nursery quickly. They are thrilled that their children are making lots of progress and that they have developed close bonds with key staff. Parents appreciate being kept up to date with what the children have been doing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that inconsistencies in teaching are identified by managers swiftly to improve the quality of education to an even higher level.