Looby Lou's Complete Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents are welcomed at this friendly nursery. Children settle quickly, happily going to familiar staff for cuddles and comfort. This supports their emotional well-being. Staff encourage positive attitudes to learning and praise children frequently. They have high expectations for children. Where children need additional support to manage their feelings and behaviour, staff are swift to intervene. They patiently explain to children how their behaviour affects their friends. This helps children develop positive relationships.

Children make choices and decisions as they play, helping them to become independent learners. Staff read to children often throughout the day, helping them learn to love books. Children enjoy gathering around staff to listen contentedly to stories. Children benefit from the time and space they need to explore, experiment and create unique pieces of art. This supports children's imagination and creativity.

Babies access a carefully planned environment, where they can safely crawl, cruise furniture and move their whole bodies. Children access the outdoors, where they ride trikes and scooters and practise their balancing skills. This supports their core muscle development. Furthermore, children develop fine motor skills. Babies grasp toys, toddlers persist at stacking blocks, and older children begin to use scissors and competently make marks with chalks and pencils. This helps to promote early writing skills.

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

• The dedicated managers support staff to implement a curriculum that meets the needs of children. Staff target their teaching effectively. They know what skills they want children to learn and what they want to teach next. The manager has a clear aim to continually enhance the quality of the provision. She recognises the many areas of strength, while also being able to identify where improvement is needed.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Accurate assessments help staff to identify any emerging gaps at the earliest stage. They work closely with parents to help them access help and advice. All children, including those in receipt of funding, make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff promote children's communication well. Staff who work with babies use animated and encouraging facial expressions. They speak to them as they play and while addressing their care needs, emphasising key words which babies quickly come to recognise and understand. Older children express themselves clearly and ask questions to reinforce their learning. However, there is room to strengthen teaching even further. For example, by expanding on what older children say and by adding additional descriptive words to help broaden children's vocabulary.
• Staff promote children's independence well. Younger children are encouraged to wash their own plate after snack time. Older children climb the stairs themselves, holding onto the handrail to keep themselves safe. Staff help children to learn about healthy lifestyles. Children brush their teeth daily and understand why and when it is important to wash their hands.
• Staff embed and weave some mathematics well throughout children's activities. For example, number songs support children's counting skills. However, staff do not consistently encourage older children to use and develop their knowledge and understanding of early mathematical concepts. For example, by making comparisons in size, weight and volume.
• Staff say that they feel supported by the management team. Additional initiatives, such as well-being practitioner, further support staff and help them to feel valued. Staff receive regular supervision meetings, where they reflect on their practice and identify professional development opportunities. For example, some staff have accessed Makaton training and completed additional training to support children aged two. This helps to improve their personal effectiveness and improve outcomes for children.
• Staff form positive relationships with parents. Parents report that their children have made progress in their communication and language skills, toileting and independence skills. They talk highly of the welcoming and nurturing nature of the staff. They say that they get helpful information to support their children at home. Parents say that their children have fun at nursery and enjoy attending.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the already good practice in developing older children's expressive language skills by expanding on what they say and using additional words when responding
• support staff to identify opportunities to introduce children to different mathematical concepts, such as size, weight and volume.