First Steps Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

Summary of key findings for parents

This provision is good • The management team evaluates practice well in liaison with staff to make positive improvements. For instance, they have made changes to the layout of the playrooms to enable children to move around more easily and independently make choices from a wider range of learning opportunities.

This has had a beneficial effect on children's behaviour, confidence and motivation to learn. • Children respond happily to the caring and welcoming approach that staff provide. Staff work well with parents to understand their children's individual routines and help them settle happily and feel secure in their care.

• Staff promote children's awareness of healthy ...eating well. Children enjoy a well-balanced menu of nutritious snacks and meals. They like to go with staff to a local market to buy ingredients, for example, to make vegetable soup or fruit smoothies.

• Children enjoy their play. Staff provide exciting activities to support children's interests and participation in play. Children make good progress with their learning.

• Although staff know their key children's development well, they are not all aware of the next steps in learning for other children. This means, at times, they miss opportunities to support all children's individual learning needs consistently well. • Although staff provide planned activities for children relating to phonics, at times, they miss opportunities to encourage their awareness of linking letters and sounds through their spontaneous play, for example, when children show an interest in stories and rhymes.