The Little Ripley Day Nursery

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children follow a pathway through five rooms during their time in the nursery. Staff in all the rooms are nurturing and sensitively meet the needs of the children. Babies enjoy lots of cuddles and reassurance to help them settle away from their carers. Children in the Toddler Room bring in photos of their family members, which they place on the 'family tree' display. Staff use this information to get to know children. This means children get support during transitions, such as a sibling being born. All the children enjoy daily access to the well-resourced garden. Babies wear all-weather suits so they can use the garden even if the ground is wet. Children build on their physical skills by kicking balls, balancing on obstacles and climbing on the large wooden frame.

There are lots of opportunities for children to practise their communication and language. Children read stories in the reading den, make friends on the buddy bench and follow a story of the week. All children express a love of books. In the Baby Room, children independently reach for books and turn the pages. Staff sing, use sign language and enthusiastically encourage children to join in. Staff praise achievements and reinforce good behaviours. Children show good manners, play nicely with their friends and follow routines well. For example, the children in the Little Learners Room work together to tidy up and line up ready to wash their hands before lunch.

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

• The quality of teaching is good. Staff have a good knowledge and understanding of how young children learn and develop. They plan interesting activities and experiences based on children's individual interests.
• Staff in the Tweenies Room plan precisely for the children's next steps in learning. However, staff in the other rooms could make better use of children's next steps so they are highly focused for each child. This would help children to make even better progress in their learning.
• Staff are well qualified and regularly update their training. Leaders support staff with regular supervision sessions. Leaders have strategies in place to support the different learning needs of their staff. All staff feel valued and that their emotional well-being is a priority to the management.
• Leaders implement a rigorous recruitment process. All staff on site have been checked for their suitability. A thorough induction procedure is followed. This means that even the newest members of staff have the appropriate knowledge to support children and that children are safe.
• There is a strong focus on promoting children's independence skills. For example, children confidently make choices in their learning and take care of their own self-care needs. Toddlers skilfully use cutlery to feed themselves yogurt and fruit at lunchtime. This sets them up well for their next stage in learning.
• Children sustain their interest in activities for prolonged periods of time. Children in the Pre-school Room draw pictures of themselves. Staff introduce words like 'wrist' and 'ankle'. This extends children's knowledge of body parts and exposes them to new language.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, and their parents, are well supported. Effective early assessments are used to help identify where children may need extra support. Staff respond quickly and sensitively to their needs. This means these children get rapid access to support and make good progress.
• Parents speak very highly of the setting. They comment that their children have achieved things like potty training and learning to share since coming to the nursery. They say that thanks to the nursery, returning to work was a lot easier. However, more information could be shared with parents about the plans for children's future learning. This would consolidate children's learning between home and nursery.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide staff with further support to help them use their knowledge of individual children to plan even more precisely for their next steps in learning
• build further on communication with parents so that they are fully informed about the future plans for their children's learning.