Little Willows Day Nursery (Corsham)

Inclusion: Expected standard

Staff monitor children's progress carefully and put in place swift support to help close any gaps in learning. They liaise with parents and outside professionals to seek advice and implement targeted support. Generally, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and families requiring additional support at home are well supported in the nursery.

Parents are involved in the decision-making about their children and feel their views are respected when putting in place targeted support. They value the guidance they receive to support learning at home.

Staff make adaptations for children so that they are included in most aspects of the nursery. They use additional funding well, such as to provide extra staff support and to provide additional resources that will reduce barriers to learning and help children make progress.

Occasionally, during some large group outings, such as visits to the local school nativity, some children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are not included. Leaders have not yet ensured these experiences are adapted so that all children can take part.

Curriculum and teaching: Expected standard

Staff support children's early mathematical skills. Older children name 2D shapes with confidence, such as circles, parallelograms and rhombuses. Staff model simple mathematical language to younger children, such as when tidying puzzle pieces in the box. Children join in with counting rhymes and learn about shape and size.

Staff promote the children's language development effectively overall. They narrate younger children's play and repeat words back accurately. Staff encourage all children to sing and to engage in storytelling, which helps broaden children's vocabulary. Staff engage older children in conversations, and they are confident speakers, forming sentences and sharing their ideas. However, during group times, staff do not consistently support older children to take turns in conversations. As a result, children's ideas are not always heard by everyone.

Staff offer children plenty of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Children climb and balance, and staff challenge them further by getting them to practise standing on the beams on one leg.

Staff help children learn about the lives of themselves and others. They celebrate festivals from different cultures. Staff encourage parents to take a teddy bear home and share photos of it and their child, sharing news about what they do together. Staff help the children share this with their friends to help them learn about the similarities and differences between themselves and others.

Achievement: Expected standard

Typically, all children achieve well from their starting points. Gaps in children's learning, including for those children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, close over time. Children develop key skills they will need for school. They develop their physical skills outdoors, including balance and coordination. They have lots of opportunities to strengthen their hand muscles, such as through drawing, scooping, filling and using tweezers to pick up cotton wool balls.

Children learn to express themselves well, engage in conversations and recall prior learning. Generally, they learn to listen to others and take turns in conversation. Children are interested and engaged in the activities provided. They enjoy joining in with action songs, rhymes and listening to stories, which supports their communication and language development. Children independently look at books and use equipment to draw, with older children attempting to write the letters in their names, showing they are developing their literacy skills effectively.

Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines: Strong standard

Staff help children learn the rules and the boundaries. They ask the children to remember how many children can go in the 'snug' at the same time, helping them understand expectations. Staff are consistent in managing children's behaviour and in supporting them to share and take turns. They help children negotiate and resolve minor disputes, such as when 2 children want the same toy. This helps children develop respect for others. Children show care and kindness towards their friends. Staff recognise and praise these acts, reinforcing positive behaviour.

Older children sit and play games together, showing they can wait and take their turns. They are developing the key social skills they will need for starting school.

Staff support children very effectively to manage their feelings and emotions. They talk to them about how they are feeling and how they might feel better. Staff offer children time away from the group if they feel overwhelmed, based on what they know will help them. For example, children can go outside to play or spend time in the sensory area.

Children show they thoroughly enjoy their learning. All children engage in the activities and persevere, as staff praise them for their achievements and encourage them to try again if they are not successful the first time. For example, when children spread butter on their crackers, staff encourage them and model techniques when needed.

Leaders monitor children's attendance carefully. All children attend the nursery regularly. This helps them establish good routines and prepares them well for the routine of starting school.

Children's welfare and wellbeing: Expected standard

Staff provide a safe environment for the children to explore. They have reviewed risk assessments and made improvements to practice, strengthening security in the nursery. Staff remind children of the rules to help keep themselves safe. For example, before getting ready for yoga, they remind children that they need to pick up the blocks in case they stand on them and hurt themselves.

Staff provide a range of balanced and nutritious meals and snacks for the children. Staff promote children's independence well. Young children begin to learn to use spoons as they eat. Older children use knives and forks. Children pour their own drink and spread their own crackers, and even young children practise putting on their coats and boots independently. Staff place a strong focus on helping children learn to use the potty when they are in the toddler room, to prepare them for their next stage in learning.

However, staff do not consistently support children to learn about the benefits of healthy foods. This limits children's understanding of how food affects their bodies and how to make informed healthy choices.

Leadership and governance: Expected standard

Staff have attended lots of training and coaching since the last inspection to raise the quality of the provision. This has improved their interactions with children, which supports their communication and language development suitably overall. Staff explain how training on the characteristics of effective learning has improved how they monitor children's progress and identify the most relevant next steps in learning. This has helped close any gaps in children's learning. In addition, staff have a secure understanding of safeguarding procedures. They liaise with the relevant agencies when concerns about children's welfare arise. Leaders ensure the premises remain safe and secure.

Staff report that they feel well supported in the nursery. This creates a respectful working environment where staff's wellbeing is considered effectively.

Parents report that they are very pleased with the nursery, that their children enjoy attending and that they are happy with the progress their children are making. Parents report that they feel well informed about what their children are learning next and how to support this at home. Most parents say that they enjoy the social and fundraising events and that it helps them see their children with their friends. Parents whose children have special educational needs and/or disabilities feel very involved in the decisions regarding their children's education.

However, leaders have not monitored all areas of the curriculum as effectively as possible. As a result, some minor areas for development remain in how parts of the curriculum are implemented.