Small Steps Day Nursery And Pre-School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy, settled and safe. The key-person system is embedded and children form secure attachments with staff. Babies beam at staff as they copy and sing action songs.

Toddlers giggle with glee as they jump up and down to music and make their own play dough monsters. Older children listen attentively to their favourite stories. They take turns to tell the group things that their parents work hard at.

The passionate leaders have a clear vision for their team. They ensure that all children are making good progress within their development and access support for children when needed. The manager has devised a ca...refully constructed curriculum.

It provides children with endless opportunities to learn about the local environment and fully promotes their physical development. Children develop positive attitudes to their play and they are eager to learn.Children are becoming very independent learners.

Younger children feed themselves and put their own coats and shoes on. Older children are keen to help adults. They set the table for lunch and count out how many knifes and forks they need.

Children self-serve their food in the nursery and enjoy their social mealtimes. Children's behaviour is good. Staff have embedded the rules of the nursery and children play well together, sharing toys and resources.

Robust systems are in place to ensure seamless transitions into subsequent rooms in the nursery and eventual move to school.

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

The manager has formed very positive relationships with parents. Parents praise the nursery for the excellent communication links with home.

They are thankful for the nurturing and welcoming environment that the nursery provides. Parents benefit from the home support bags. These help to support families with a range of experiences, including the arrival of a new baby and toilet training.

Parents are highly valued and complete termly evaluations about the nursery. This ensures that their views are listened to and acted upon.Leaders give children plenty of opportunities to learn about the local community that they live in.

Children visit local shops, for example the grocers to buy fresh vegetables. They access different modes of transport to visit local amenities, such as museums. During the inspection, children went on a trip to the local beach to have their first experience of flying a kite in the windy weather.

Staff used children's interests to spontaneously plan the trip. This helped to extend children's learning about the weather. However, this is not embedded throughout the nursery.

Occasionally, staff do not reshape activities effectively to extend children's thinking and learning skills.Children are confident communicators. They enjoy telling the inspector about their roles in the Christmas play.

Early literacy skills are promoted well. Staff introduce new vocabulary to children through reading stories, singing songs and having meaningful conversations with them. Children enjoy writing letters to Father Christmas and posting them into the post box.

Staff are passionate about improving outcomes for children. They have implemented a robust system for tracking the development of all children. This ensures that they can plan effectively for children's next steps.

Effective partnerships with a range of professionals are continually improving staff's knowledge of how to support children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.The manager monitors and coaches staff very well. She uses effective supervision to set targets which continually develop staff practice.

This ensures that they are equipped with a good understanding of how children learn and develop. Leaders and managers regularly monitor staff well-being and they have recently removed written planning to reduce their workload.Staff promote outdoor learning experiences.

Younger children enjoy riding around the outdoor area on tricycles. They practise climbing up and down steps on equipment. Older children enjoy creating their own obstacle courses and practise balancing along beams.

Children learn how to develop healthy lifestyles, including understanding the importance of exercise.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff have a good understanding of what constitutes a safeguarding concern.

They understand the procedures to follow to protect children from harm. The manager ensures staff keep their knowledge up to date through attending training courses and holding staff meetings. Good recruitment procedures and rigorous background checks ensure that children are always cared for by suitable adults who have the necessary skills to fulfil their roles in the nursery.

The access to the premises is monitored well. The buzzer entry system enables staff to check a person's identity before letting them in.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more opportunities to extend children's learning in planned activities.