Smarty Pants @ Lightwoods House Limited

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy the calm and welcoming environment. They form strong relationships with staff. On arrival, several children are so pleased to see the staff, that they run in and hug them. Children are kind and look out for each other. For example, as children balance and step across logs in the garden they remind each other to 'be careful'. Children develop a desire to do things for themselves. For example, children concentrate and try different techniques until they manage to remove the protective backing from the stickers they want to use. Children learn mathematical language, such as 'heavy, light' and 'equal to', as they weigh different items on the scales. Children confidently engage with visitors and talk about their time in the nursery. For example, children say that they enjoy 'playing outside' and 'in the water'. Babies fully engage with staff as they explore and investigate sensory resources. Children demonstrate their knowledge of the benefits of healthy eating as they discuss their favourite fruits and vegetables at snack time. Staff have high expectations for all children and children display positive attitudes to learning. Overall, children are gaining the necessary skills and attitudes for their next stage of learning, including school.

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

• Staff manage children's behaviour well. Children listen and respond swiftly to instructions.
• Staff make regular observations and assessments of children's individual learning. They have a clear intent about what they want each child to learn next. However, staff do not create enough opportunities for children to learn about the similarities, differences and cultural backgrounds of others.
• The learning environment is vibrant and inviting and there is a broad range of exciting resources that are easily accessible for children to access independently. Staff plan interesting activities that children are keen to take part in. However, some staff do not consistently adapt activities to challenge the most able children and, on occasions, children lose interest and do not stay engaged.
• Staff promote children's language skills well. They introduce new words and help children to build sentences. Children who need additional help with speech and language, including those children learning English as an additional language, make very good progress. Staff model words and encourage babies and toddlers to make sounds and verbalise what they see to support their early language.
• Staff promote children's early reading skills. They read stories in exciting tones, which fires children's imagination. Staff ask questions to encourage the children to think and they become more and more engrossed in the story. Children learn to recognise and write letters in their name and demonstrate good pencil control.
• Children have plenty of opportunities to be physically active. Outdoors, they use their bodies to twist, bend and stretch as they chase after bubbles, squealing with delight as they catch them. Staff working with babies and toddlers have a good understanding of child development. They organise the furniture and toys in the room to assist children with their developing mobility.
• Children learn to be independent. For example, older children can manage their own personal care and cut up their own fruit at snack time.
• Parents speak highly of the staff. They comment that staff are very supportive and provide regular updates on their children's learning and ideas of how they can extend their children's learning at home.
• The manager monitors the curriculum and children's learning effectively and provides swift intervention when children need extra help. She provides coaching and training for staff to help improve their knowledge, skills and quality of teaching. The manager carefully considers how to use additional funding to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children.
• The health and well-being of the staff is very important to the management team. They ensure staff workload is manageable and does not have a negative impact on their well-being.
• Regular evaluation of the nursery takes account of the views of children, parents and staff. Managers and staff have identified that some children prefer to learn outdoors and have adapted the learning environment and curriculum accordingly.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance opportunities for children to learn about the similarities and differences between people and other communities to further develop their awareness of diversity
• develop the educational programme for the most able children to enable them to make more rapid progress.