Littlegates for Little People

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children's focus on learning centres around fun and playful interactions with staff. Staff use these interactions to skilfully teach children the knowledge and skills that they need to make good progress. They plan activities around children's interests to engage and excite them, and through this, staff successfully support age-appropriate learning and development. Toddler's communication and language development are promoted through activities which staff have planned around transport and vehicles. Their listening and attention skills develop through a game of 'sound bingo'. Children recognise the noise of a motorbike and mark this off their bingo cards. Other children use their developing language to act out stories and songs about transport. Their imaginations take them to the seaside, where they share ice cream with their friends.

Staff provide opportunities for children to learn social skills from an early age. Throughout the nursery, mealtimes are a social occasion where staff role model appropriate behaviours. Pre-school children are heard politely asking their friends for 'more toast please'. They take turns by passing toast and milk around the table, ensuring everyone has some snack to enjoy. This creates an environment where children feel safe and happy. Their emotional well-being is secured through the positive relationships they have with staff and their peers.

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

• The manager has made sure that the necessary improvements have been made since the last inspection. Staff are now confident in their knowledge of what to do should they have a concern about the conduct of a colleague. Supervision processes have been tightened to better identify gaps in staff's knowledge. Procedures to record injuries that children sustain at home or within the nursery have been strengthened, and staff now routinely record this information.
• Staff have built strong partnerships with parents and carers. Parents report that they feel involved in their child's learning and well communicated with. Recently, to celebrate World Book Day, parents were invited into the nursery to read a favourite story to their child and their friends. Parents explain they find the online learning app beneficial in knowing what their child is doing at nursery. This informs parents of how they can further support their child's learning at home.
• The manager uses additional funding effectively to support the learning and development of those who are entitled to it. Additional staff are employed to work with children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). The specific skills and qualifications that these staff hold mean that children with SEND are receiving high-quality care and education. This helps to accelerate their learning and development and supports them to reach their own unique potential.
• In the most part, staff deliver a curriculum in which children can learn, practise and successfully use new skills and knowledge. For example, pre-school children carefully turn the pages when they share a story together, demonstrating their knowledge of how to handle a book. However, this is not consistent. Sometimes, staff complete tasks for children which they could achieve independently. For example, staff provide children with cut and buttered toast, when they could use this as an opportunity for children to develop these skills for themselves.
• Staff use successful strategies to shape children's good behaviour. For example, when staff introduce children to a new activity, they give clear information about any rules and boundaries before the fun and learning begins. This means that, from the onset, children know what is expected from them, creating a positive learning environment for all.
• Staff utilise the nursery's rural location to support children's physical and mental health. Children discover new flowers and meet baby lambs while on nature walks. Staff teach yoga to support older children's well-being. All children benefit from the nursery's expanse of outdoor space, where staff support physical skills such as running and climbing.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• extend opportunities for children to learn, practise and use new skills throughout all aspects of the daily routine, such as at mealtimes.