Little Sneakers at Lodge Park

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

There is a calm, happy and welcoming atmosphere at this nursery. Children thrive in an environment centred around their interests.

They confidently choose the activities they wish to participate in. Babies demonstrate high levels of natural curiosity as they explore musical instruments. Toddlers are very imaginative.

They create a 'birthday cake' using play dough and pretend to blow the candles out. Children in pre-school learn about life cycles through planting and growing seeds.Staff are committed to helping every child succeed and are attentive to their needs.

Children behave really well and show positive a...ttitudes towards learning. They play cooperatively with each other and respond well to the routines and boundaries in place. Children flourish on the praise they receive from staff for their efforts and achievements.

This helps to build their self-esteem and confidence.Staff promote children's communication and language skills well. They ensure children of all ages have many opportunities to hear spoken words through meaningful conversations, reading books and singing songs.

As a result, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points.

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

The curriculum is broad, well sequenced and ambitious for all children. Planning is focused on children's current interests and needs.

Children are motivated in their play and enjoy their self-chosen activities from the well-resourced environment. However, the organisation of group activities and deployment of staff do not support all children to maintain high levels of engagement in their learning.The manager sets a clear direction for continual improvement and implements ongoing action plans to achieve this.

She uses well-researched initiatives and supports staff to build on their professional development. For example, staff attend regular training, supervision sessions and staff meetings. Staff well-being is high.

This has a positive impact on developing staff practice.The quality of teaching is good. Staff provide children with a range of exciting and interesting opportunities that develop their curiosity for learning.

For example, pre-school children build an ant house and learn about how to look after them, toddlers find treasure boxes in sand and babies explore rolling balls down a ramp.Staff make good use of assessment to plan for individual children's needs and next steps. They provide activities that follow the interests of all children.

Children who speak English as an additional language are included effectively.Staff take time to get to know some words in children's home languages and include these in the planning and experiences provided. Children make good progress from their starting points.

However, staff do not adapt their teaching enough during activities to help the most able children build on their skills even further. This means that occasionally, some children are not fully challenged during their learning.Children develop good communication and language skills.

The setting supports children's early language development through fostering a love of books, songs and rhymes. Staff take every opportunity to extend language, introducing new words and engaging children in meaningful conversations. For example, they talk with children about the size of a brontosaurus' neck and tail.

Staff use everyday opportunities to develop children's mathematical skills. For example, when making enclosures for animals, staff talk to children about how many animals they have and the shapes they have created for their enclosure.Staff are good role models for children.

They encourage children to talk about how they are feeling, which helps to promote emotional development. Older children know and understand the simple nursery rules. Staff offer clear and consistent reminders to help children learn about expectations and boundaries.

Inclusive practice is a strength of the setting. Children who need extra support are quickly identified. Staff work with outside agencies and share any concerns promptly.

This helps to ensure that children receive any additional support needed to help them make good progress.Relationships with parents are positive. Staff gather information from home about children's achievements, interests and routines on an ongoing basis.

They use what they find out to provide a personalised experience for all children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff understand their roles and responsibilities in ensuring they provide a safe environment for children to learn and develop in.

This includes taking effective steps to ensure that those they recruit are safe to work with children. They have robust systems in place to recognise when children are at risk of harm and take the necessary steps to keep them safe. For example, they liaise and share information where needed with other professionals.

Staff are vigilant in recognising possible risks in the environment when children are playing and take appropriate action to keep them safe. Most staff have a first-aid qualification.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove the organisation of group activities and staff deployment to help children remain focused and engaged in their learning nadapt teaching more consistently to ensure all children, particularly the most able children, are challenged to the highest level during activities.