The Little Lotus Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy, behave well and develop a positive attitude to their learning at this small and friendly nursery. They form positive relationships with their key person and everyone in the staff team. Staff are caring and sensitive. They adapt settling-in procedures to meet children's individual needs, such as those who have had little or no social contact due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staff support children's emotional development well. For example, they encourage children to talk about how they feel. Staff give children choices to work through their feelings, such as offering quiet time in the comfy 'happy place'. Children confidently choose what to play with and learn. Staff place a key focus on developing children's social skills and their communication and language.

Staff have recently enhanced the learning environments to improve children's learning and experiences. Children eagerly engage in the well-organised activities staff provide, indoors and outdoors. This enables children to practise a variety of skills throughout the day. For example, children enjoy regular yoga sessions and learn to balance on a see-saw. This helps to promote children's self-confidence and self-esteem.

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

• Children have many opportunities to develop their physical skills. They use cutlery to eat at lunchtime, throw balls into a hoop and use paintbrushes and pencils to make marks. Staff help children to begin to understand how their bodies work. For instance, children know they need to rest to recover after running around in the garden. Children know they need to drink water to rehydrate. Staff provide healthy and balanced snacks for children. They ensure that children's dietary needs are met and implement good hygiene procedures.
• Staff support and monitor children well. For example, staff check that children are dry and comfortable following messy play. Children use their imaginations when making pretend meals in the role-play area. They delight in sharing a 'cookie crumble' and use a variety of tools to scoop, chop and stir. Staff encourage children to become independent through consistent daily routines. For instance, they learn to fill their own water bottles and clear away their plates after lunch.
• Partnerships with parents and other professionals are very effective. Staff work closely with families and other agencies to ensure that there is a joined-up approach to children's learning. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from highly personalised support. For example, staff ensure that external teachers working with children understand their current fascinations to help to keep them engaged. Consequently, all children make good progress in their learning and development.
• Overall, staff position storybooks carefully in the nursery. Children happily present them to staff, confident they will be read to. Staff make sure that they read clearly and slowly so that children can join in. They extend children's knowledge as they read by asking questions and introducing new vocabulary. This helps children to develop a love of books. However, there is not a wide range of books easily available for all ages and interests of the children, including cause-and-effect books for toddlers and books that promote imagination for older children. This restricts some younger children's ability to learn about print and illustrations in books and older children to link written words and their meaning.
• The dedicated provider and manager have an accurate overview of the nursery. They have identified positive actions to help to drive further improvements and build even stronger relations in the local community. Staff are well supported. They engage in regular discussions about children's progress and share ideas for activities. They have good opportunities to access training. Staff say they feel valued and that their ongoing professional development and well-being are considered during supervision sessions.
• Generally, staff demonstrate a secure understanding of the newly adapted early years curriculum. They use children's interests to guide their planning to build on what children know and can do. However, on occasion, some staff do not focus on the order in which children learn new skills to ensure their learning is sequenced effectively throughout the nursery. The manager is still in the early stages of coaching staff to ensure their interactions consistently help all children reach their full potential.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• build on the existing systems in place to coach and support staff, to enhance practice across the nursery to ensure that the new curriculum is implemented fully
• enhance the opportunities that children have to learn that print carries meaning, to further extend their interest in literacy.