Little Wonders Nursery Falmouth

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and confident. They settle in quickly on arrival and choose what they want to play with. Children learn to be independent in their daily routines. They wash their hands before snack time and choose their own name label, cup and plate and take them to the table. Staff greet children with a 'welcome to my café' and children decide which fruit they would like to eat. Staff cut the fruit and highlight two halves and four quarters of the apple or orange. Children carefully use knives to spread butter onto bread and know the routine of the café well. Staff remind children to use their 'pouring hand and tipping hand' when lifting the milk jug. Children have good manners and are very behaved. They say 'please' and 'thank you' often and happily wait their turn to go into the 'café' for their snack.

Parents are highly complimentary about the positive relationships their children enjoy with staff and the progress their children make at the setting. Parents are regularly informed of their children's development and know who their child's key person is. Children bring home scrapbooks which show what they are learning, and parents build on their next steps collaboratively with staff.

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

• Staff support older children's early literacy skills effectively. They listen to stories and repeat phrases from well-known storybooks. Children make their voices 'go down a slide' and 'bounce like a ball'. They explore pitch and sound. Children love to play the game 'silly soup'. They pick out 'cat, bat, rat' and talk about how the words rhyme. This gives children the tools for future learning about letters and sounds. Older children have opportunity to engage in rich language conversations with staff and each other throughout the day. Younger children do not always have the same opportunities. Staff do not speak slowly or give children sufficient time to respond when asked questions.
• Children learn to throw and catch a ball. Staff teach them how to hold their hands out and pull the ball in when they catch. Children persevere with this activity for a prolonged time and take turns with their friends. Staff extend this by teaching them how to bounce and then catch the ball. This enhances their physical development and improves their hand-eye coordination skills.
• Children develop their knowledge of numbers and counting regularly. Staff draw numbers one to three on the playground for children to park their bicycles and cars in. Older children continue this by attempting to add the number four to the next space. Children self-register when they arrive at nursery and place their photo next to the number corresponding to the order in which they arrived. This helps children learn about number order and recognise numerals.
• Children love to learn outdoors. They weave in and out of the bamboo stalks and look for leaves on the floor of the 'jungle'. Children observe the different shapes and sizes of the leaves. Staff extend children's learning and provide clipboards and pencils for children to draw the leaves. This embeds children's knowledge about the world around them. Children point out the 'veins' on the leaves and add their drawings to the nature table to share with their friends. Staff praise children's contributions, and this builds their self-esteem.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are fully included in the setting. Staff make communication cards to illustrate what is happening now and what will come next. This makes transitions between activities easier for children to understand. Staff recognise when children need to access learning individually. For example, staff tailor group-time activities to enable children to participate at their own pace. Staff offer the same learning experiences to all children.
• The manager has amended the provision to allow older children and toddlers to play together when they choose and freely move between rooms. Children benefit from this arrangement by learning from each other. However, staff organisation is not effective during lunchtimes and children do not always receive the same level of engagement during this period. At times, this results in some children losing focus due to prolonged sitting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to improve communication with younger children, to allow children time to gather their thoughts and respond to questions
• review staff organisation during lunchtime to ensure children receive quality engagement and interaction from staff.