Two Little Dickie Birds Nursery And Fun Club with St Paul's Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form close bonds with familiar, attentive staff. They bound through the door in the morning with a big smile and show a strong sense of belonging. Their confidence and high levels of self-esteem demonstrate how safe and secure they feel in staff's care. Staff are passionate and committed to having a real impact on the lives of young children. They have a strong focus on kindness and friendship. They encourage children to care for those around them, to work together and to celebrate one another's achievements. This contributes to children's high levels of motivation and positive attitudes. They play and learn together harmoniously.

The curriculum supports children's learning well. Teaching is consistently good and, at times, exemplary. This is reflected in children's achievements. Babies and toddlers make consistent progress, and children in pre-school show considerable ability across all areas of learning. Those children who need support with some aspects of learning benefit from detailed, personalised plans that help them to make more progress. Staff provide a vast and varied range of activities, outings and visitors to nursery. This enriches children's experiences and builds on their knowledge and understanding of their community and the wider world.

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

• Staff listen intently to children and take account of their opinions and preferences. This helps children to feel valued and understood and helps to build their self-worth. Pre-school children tell staff what they have enjoyed in nursery while they look together at photos and previous artwork in their learning journey. This helps to reinforce children's prior learning. Staff help them to decide what they can learn about next, and children set challenges for themselves. Children are eager and engaged learners.
• Children enjoy their learning. Babies snuggle on staff's lap for stories and songs and make attempts at new words and actions. Toddlers join in music and movement sessions, developing their balance, coordination and creativity. Pre-school children listen intently at group times, building on their knowledge and understanding of letter sounds and numbers. Staff's careful planning for children's learning contributes to their good progress and achievements.
• All staff support children's language development well. Those working with younger children model words clearly and give children plenty of time and opportunity to make their own good attempts at speaking. Pre-school children develop an impressive vocabulary. Staff teach and explain less-common words to encourage children to use and understand a wider range of words. For example, children talk about how the Chinese dragon model 'meanders' around the classroom.
• Parents are very well informed about their child's learning, and they help to
• Inspection report: Two Little Dickie Birds Nursery And Fun Club with St Paul's Pre-School 2 7 February 2025 support this at home. For example, they welcome weekend challenges to carry out with their children at home. Close working relationships between staff and teachers in school help to make the transition into Reception class seamless. Shared learning programmes help to ensure that children are very well prepared for the next stage in their learning.
• The provider reviews the provision and identifies areas for improvement. For example, there are plans to enhance the outdoor learning environment. Staff feel valued and morale is high. There are some arrangements in place for staff supervision and professional development. However, the provider has not fully considered ways to focus staff's learning more precisely and build more effectively on their good skills and knowledge.
• Children develop a good understanding of ways to stay safe and healthy. Staff teach children how to prevent the spread of infection. For example, children show their clean hands and exclaim, 'There's no germs here!' Older children are beginning to understand the importance of being active. For example, they observe how their hearts beat faster after moving during daily morning exercise routines.
• Staff teach children about respect, values and morals. They want them to grow up to make a positive contribution in their community. They provide simple, yet consistent and effective boundaries for children's behaviour and talk to them about making 'good choices'. Children talk about this during play and remind a friend, for example, by saying, 'That's not a good choice' when they take a toy from another child. They learn to regulate their own behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements for staff supervision, coaching and development to raise the quality of education overall to outstanding levels.
• Inspection report: Two Little Dickie Birds Nursery And Fun Club with St Paul's Pre-School 3 7 February 2025