1st Place at Lorrimore Square

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and parents receive a warm welcome on arrival. Staff provide a calm and nurturing environment, which enables children to feel safe and secure. Children settle quickly and demonstrate their strong bonds with their key person.

Staff know children extremely well and are attentive to their needs. They provide cuddles, offer reassurance and give praise. As a result, children are confident to explore and show a positive attitude to their learning.

Babies confidently explore with the sand. They copy demonstrations to fill pots and make marks with their fingers and natural resources, which develops their fine-motor sk...ills. Older children increase their mathematical knowledge as they measure and weigh the ingredients to make a cake.

They work together to mix and achieve the right consistency. Staff challenge children's thinking, which supports them to make predictions and problem-solve. Children demonstrate their understanding of the nursery's rules.

They remind their friends to share resources and wait patiently for their turn. Staff role model expected behaviour and show respect to children. They regularly use praise and offer gentle reminders.

Children behave well and use good manners. They help with tasks, which promotes their independence ready for the next stage of learning.

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

The manager is ambitious and passionate about providing high-quality care and education.

She supports staff with regular supervision and training to ensure that they all understand their roles and responsibilities. The manager monitors and reflects on practice, and implements changes to make improvements. For example, recent evaluation with the local authority has highlighted the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on babies' personal, social and emotional development.

Staff have created an inclusive environment which values children's individuality well. They promote children's home languages and involve parents in sharing stories. Children learn about cultural festivals.

They buy produce at the local market and taste food from different countries. This supports children to understand what makes them unique, and learn to respect and value their wider diverse community.Overall, staff promote children's communication and language development well.

Staff babble with babies and introduce new words, which babies repeat as they play. Older children enjoy stories, make predictions and engage with staff in meaningful conversations. Staff ask open-ended questions, but are not always consistent in extending children's responses to develop their learning further.

Staff provide an exciting and challenging play space for children to explore and extend their learning. For example, children enjoy climbing into large boxes and playing hide and seek. They develop their imaginations and act out characters from familiar stories.

Children confidently cut with scissors, write numbers and skilfully use woodwork tools to construct. Children show good concentration and increase their fine-motor skills.Children benefit from the nursery's involvement in an artist project at the Tate gallery.

They have taken part and seen the concept of colour evolve from a blank space. To enhance children's creative skills, staff have recreated the project from 'The Obliteration Room'. This has enabled children to build on their own ideas, extend their thinking and increase their language skills.

Parents speak highly of the nursery and caring staff. They acknowledge that their children have settled well. Parents comment that staff share noticeable improvements in their children's language skills, confidence and independence.

They receive daily updates on their children's routines and learning. However, inconsistencies have been identified with sharing children's next steps in learning and ideas for their learning at home with parents.The nursery's special educational needs coordinator works closely with other professionals to support individual children's needs.

The manager has high expectations for all children and uses additional funding to ensure that those children from disadvantaged backgrounds and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have access to the curriculum and make good progress from their starting points in learning.Staff support children to develop healthy lifestyles. Children practise their gross-motor skills using obstacle courses and apparatus at the park which improve their climbing and balance.

Children eat nutritious meals, drink water and understand the importance of following good hygiene routines.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff have a good understanding of their responsibility to safeguard children, which includes whistle-blowing.

They recognise the signs and symptoms that might indicate a child is at risk from harm or abuse. Staff receive regular safeguarding training, including the 'Prevent' duty. They know the procedures to follow if they have any concerns regarding a child's welfare.

The management team has robust recruitment procedures in place and completes ongoing checks to ensure the suitability of staff. Staff use risk assessments and daily checks to make sure that the environment is free from hazards and children's safety remains a high priority.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: build on questioning techniques to increase children's learning further share children's next steps in learning and ideas to extend their learning at home more consistently with parents.