Footprints Nursery Macclesfield Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Members of the management team have embedded their ethos of providing holistic care to the whole family. Staff know families well and relationships between children, staff and parents are a key factor in the success of this exceptionally caring nursery. For example, staff are aware that it is difficult for some families to access computers at home.

To address this, they support parents to use a designated computer in nursery. This enables parents to access training courses and view children's progress trackers. Parents describe how staff ensure that all significant adults in children's lives are included in their learnin...g.

Staff have high expectations for children and offer a differentiated curriculum. For instance, where appropriate, the most able younger children join pre-school children at key teaching times, such as structured letters and sounds sessions. This helps children to make the best possible progress.

Children consistently follow the nursery's rules. For example, they walk indoors and know that if the red circular 'no entry' sign is displaying in an area, they cannot enter it. They also remind others to abide by the rules.

Children are extremely happy, confident and independent in social situations. For instance, at mealtimes, they choose what they would like to eat from written menus. They use knives and forks adeptly and pour their own drinks.

Children tell visitors, 'Peas and carrots are good for me. They will make me have a happy heart. Juice is bad, it has sugar in it'.

This helps children to develop a positive attitude to healthy eating.

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

Staff support children who have additional needs extremely effectively. They put appropriate measures in place to enable children to fully access the curriculum.

For example, they ensure that written information, such as labels, is in bright, extra large print. This enables children who have a visual impairment to explore the environment safely. These sensitive interventions help children to quickly gain confidence and they contribute to the regular celebration of significant developmental moments.

Throughout the nursery, children are extremely kind to each other. For instance, even younger children help their friends with tasks, such as tidying up. Children are highly motivated and keen to learn new skills.

For example, younger children show determination as they investigate how to get foam out of a canister. Older children show an interest in telling the time. They excitedly point to the clock and tell staff that as the fingers are on the twelve and the two it is two o'clock.

They ask staff if this is right. Staff provide much encouragement and offer children guidance.Across the nursery, staff consistently engage in high-quality interactions with children.

This supports children to maintain high levels of focus and attention. For example, during nappy changing routines, staff sing to babies and wait for them to join with familiar words. As staff play a guitar at singing time, younger children wiggle and shake musical instruments excitedly in response.

Staff skilfully weave new vocabulary into everything they do. For instance, as older children enjoy making models, staff introduce words such as 'connect'. Children can later be heard talking about 'connecting' as they add extra features to their models.

Managers are passionate in their drive to provide the best possible learning experiences and outcomes for all children. There are highly effective processes in place to support staff to continue to enhance the quality of their excellent teaching. For example, they provide time for staff to access online training during the working day.

The management team invites staff to complete well-being assessments. This supports them to put measures in place to ensure that staff's needs are met, including the provision of a manageable workload. Staff speak highly of the support they receive, for example opportunities to chat with trained mental health first aiders.

They appreciate the range of incentives to reward them for the excellent levels of care they provide.Children benefit from rich experiences that help them to learn about the world around them. For instance, they learn about the past as they chat to elderly residents at a local care home.

Older children enjoy joining in with Spanish lessons. This helps them to communicate to their Spanish speaking friends. External professionals visit the nursery to lead children in exercise sessions and promote healthy lifestyles.

Parents comment that this has led to a marked improvement in children's confidence. As a result of the sessions, some children have also been enrolled in weekend gymnastic classes.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have an embedded knowledge and understanding of how to respond if they have concerns about children's safety. They discuss serious case reviews at team meetings. This helps them to continually review the effectiveness of safeguarding procedures.

Staff give parents clear messages about how to keep children safe when using online devices at home. They are alert to children's absences and follow telephone calls up with home visits to check on children's well-being. Robust policies and procedures are implemented across the nursery effectively and consistently .