Footprints Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision requires improvement Staff welcome children with open arms and a smile, so they happily part from their parents and carers.

Parents comment positively on the friendly staff and how much their children enjoy coming to the setting. Babies and young children eagerly cooperate with nappy changing, as staff make eye contact and soothingly chat to them. Children and adults have warm, positive relationships, and children clearly feel emotionally secure.

Children behave well, although occasionally, some wander around or sit watching others through a lack of motivation.Overall, leaders plan an appropriate curriculum that focuses on embedding children'...s prime areas of development. However, staff do not always implement it successfully through high-quality teaching.

Leaders and staff do not organise all the environment effectively to support the curriculum and help all children to make the best progress they can. Nor do they provide parents with all the information they need to support children's learning at home.Children have daily opportunities to be outdoors and active.

Young children enjoy climbing through tunnels, using a small slide and playing in the sandpit. Older children use tools with dough and have opportunities to attend 'Beach School,' where they also develop their awareness of safe practices.

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

Leaders provide staff with supervision and support and identify where staff can make some improvements.

Leaders continue to extend their knowledge and skills through training and use them well to support staff. For example, inexperienced staff confirm how quickly they are learning to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. However, not all staff challenge or extend children's learning, which was a weakness at the last inspection.

Leaders have done too little to ensure that children receive consistently good-quality teaching.When children first start, staff get to know them well through discussions with parents and their own observations. They monitor children's development to know what to plan next, although leaders do not ensure that this is consistent for all children.

Their systems to ensure that all parents have valuable information are not robust. Some parents do not receive required documentation or sufficient information on their children's progress to be able to support them better at home.Children have good spaces to play in, both indoors and outdoors.

However, staff do not always organise all areas and resources in a way that inspires children to be inquisitive and develop their ideas. For example, although children learn to share the two dolls and buggies in one role play area, the lack of additional resources means that although they enjoy their play, they do not explore and extend their interests to build their knowledge, learn new skills and develop a positive attitude to learning.Leaders' intention is that staff support children's independence by enabling them to do as much as they can for themselves, according to their abilities, building their skills step by step until they can manage on their own.

Although staff help children to try for themselves, they occasionally take over and do things for them. This was also a weakness at the last inspection.Staff provide suitable support for children to develop their communication and language skills.

They ask older children some open-ended questions and give them enough time to think and respond. They talk and sing to babies and check toddlers' understanding by giving them instructions to follow, such as turning on technology toys. However, staff do not consistently extend children's vocabulary or help older children to recall past learning, which helps them to remember more.

The premises are sufficiently clean. Staff follow effective procedures to protect children's health, such as wearing gloves and aprons to change nappies. Leaders prepare nutritional meals and keep the kitchen area clean.

Staff have important knowledge of children's dietary requirements and most have completed food hygiene training. Children help themselves to drinks to keep hydrated, especially after being outside or exercising.Leaders ensure the premises are secure and free from hazards.

Staff have daily checklists to keep all areas safe for children. Leaders ensure they meet the required ratios of qualified staff, and that staff supervise children in all areas.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To meet the requirements of the early years foundation stage, the provider must: Due date ensure staff undertake appropriate training and development to implement the curriculum more effectively and build on what children can already do 31/01/2025 improve systems to ensure all parents receive the required information they need on children's progress, to enable them to share their children's learning at home.31/12/2024 To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove the organisation of the environment to motivate children more effectively and enable them to develop their interests and deepen their inspiration to learn.