The Little Ripley Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The nursery is a warm, welcoming and safe environment for children to learn and develop. Staff provide a variety of interesting natural resources and equipment to support children's development in all areas of learning. The manager has high expectations for the nursery which are shared with parents and staff.

This helps to continually raise the standards of the provision and encourage the best possible outcomes for all children. All children make good progress from their starting points. The curriculum is implemented well through a broad range of activities.

Children build good relationships with their key person and o...ther staff. They are familiar with routines and demonstrate self-care skills appropriate to their age. Children's independence is promoted well in all rooms.

Older babies sit at a table to eat and children are encouraged to be independent at mealtimes. Children throughout the nursery are well behaved. Staff provide them with consistent guidance at a level appropriate for their stage of development.

Staff are attentive to children's individual needs. They reassure young children and sing familiar songs to help them to settle. Children listen attentively to staff and each other.

Mathematical language is part of a range of play experiences. For example, staff encourage children to think about number, shape and measure as they play with dinosaurs.

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

Staff encourage children from a young age to develop an interest in books.

Young children select books independently, turn the pages and point at the pictures. Staff provide props to enhance songs and stories. Staff engage children well as they animatedly tell familiar stories, such as 'We're Going on a Bear Hunt'.

Younger children join in with familiar words and phrases and show high levels of engagement at story time.Partnership working is good. Staff are knowledgeable about children's specific needs, such as those with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

They work closely with parents and other professionals to provide targeted support to help children to achieve to their full potential. Information about children's progress is regularly shared with parents. Parents talk about how staff are 'friendly and approachable'.

Children's good health is promoted well. Staff are vigilant in ensuring individual children's dietary needs are met at mealtimes. They extend children's awareness of healthy practices well, such as washing their hands at appropriate times.

However, during activities and routines, some staff do not give children enough time to consider questions and provide responses, to help maintain interest and maximise their learning.Staff use children's interests effectively to plan activities that engage children well. Children take part in activities with enthusiasm and are motivated to play and learn.

For example, children in the pre-school room concentrate carefully as they examine minibeasts and take magnifying glasses around the garden to look for insects.Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and develop. They complete regular observations and assessments, looking at where the children are in their learning and development and what needs to be done next.

Staff give children praise for trying and achieving, which supports children to become confident learners. Staff quickly notice when children need extra help. They provide the support children need to achieve and to close any gaps in learning rapidly.

Children are well prepared for the next stage in their learning.Children have plenty of fun as they take part in physical play opportunities. They enthusiastically jump and dance along to guitar music and songs, helping to develop greater control over their movements.

Children enjoy spending time outdoors. They competently use wheeled toys and enjoy running around with their friends. Children are kind and considerate.

They take turns with others during play and are well mannered.Staff work well as a team. The manager provides well-organised arrangements to support staff.

They have regular supervision meetings where targets are set to help develop their skills and these are reviewed to check their progress. Overall, this provides a successful approach to supporting staff's practice. Occasionally, staff do not use opportunities to develop and challenge children's learning even further.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff access regular safeguarding training. They have a good knowledge of the signs and symptoms of abuse and a broad understanding of wider safeguarding issues.

Staff know what action to take should they have any concerns about a child's welfare. They securely understand the steps to take if there has been an allegation against another member of staff or a manager. The manager has robust recruitment and induction procedures in place.

She completes rigorous checks to ensure that only those suitable to work with children do so. Staff supervise children closely and remind children to stay safe as they play.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus more precisely on staff's teaching practice so that they consistently extend and challenge children's learning to enable them to achieve the best possible progress help staff to build on their interactions with children during activities and nursery routines to maintain children's interest fully.