Luans Little People Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are confident to leave their parents at the door when they arrive. Staff warmly greet them, helping children to have a sense of belonging in the nursery. If children are unsettled, staff are nurturing and redirect their attention to toys and resources. This results in children settling quickly. Children are encouraged by staff to be independent. For instance, younger children learn how to use knives safely to cut bananas. Older children put on their own shoes and serve their own meals.

Staff support children to develop their physical skills. For example, staff give children pipettes to squeeze. Children transfer coloured water from one container to another. This helps them to strengthen the muscles in their hands to support early writing skills. Younger children show a keen interest in books. Staff respond by reading stories and encouraging children to point to different images on the pages, helping them to follow the story and concentrate. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well by staff. For example, staff read stories to children about monsters that show different colours for their feelings, helping them to understand their emotions. Children say that their feelings are all mixed up.

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

• Staff provide opportunities for children to learn how healthy food grows. For example, they take older children to an allotment where they learn how to plant vegetables. This is further promoted when children plant vegetables and flowers in the nursery garden. Children tell visitors that they grow raspberries, onions and carrots and that the flowers smell sweet.
• Staff plan a curriculum that enables children to progress in their learning and follow their interests. For example, when children show an interest in toy dinosaurs, staff provide them with paint and show children how to stomp the dinosaur's feet onto the paper to make marks. This contributes to helping children develop their hand-eye coordination.
• Close partnership working with other professionals helps staff to identify and support children's individual needs, particularly those children with SEND. Robust systems are in place to monitor and support children's development.
• Children are keen to explore and investigate the toys and resources offered. However, sometimes, staff do not fully support children to build on their learning during their self-chosen play experiences. This results in children not making as much progress as possible in their development.
• Staff implement 'golden rules' that help children to understand what is expected of them. These are discussed with children at appropriate times during the day. Children show that they understand how to use kind hands, listening ears, share and use quiet voices indoors.
• The management team reflects on the experiences they offer children. Feedback is obtained from parents and staff to help identify improvements. The management team visits other early years settings to share good practice and identify how they can build on what they already offer children.
• Staff are supported to build on their professional development. Recent training helps staff to promote positive behaviour for children. This includes staff recognising that praising children's positive behaviour can help them to understand what they have done well.
• Overall, staff support children's communication skills well. For example, children listen to and follow staff's instructions, such as when it is time to tidy away toys. However, sometimes, opportunities for children to build on their language skills are not as effective. For instance, staff do not fully give younger children opportunities to copy single words. Furthermore, when staff ask older children questions, they answer these themselves instead of supporting children to respond.
• Parents say that staff are friendly and approachable. Staff invite parents into the nursery to join their children's play experiences, such as making Easter bonnets. Staff give parents information to help promote their children's care and learning at home, such as about weaning and oral health. This helps to provide a united approach to supporting children's learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on staff's interactions during children's self-chosen play, to help develop their learning
• help staff to strengthen opportunities for children to build on their language skills.