Leap Ahead @ Ulceby

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The provider has recently recruited a qualified, experienced manager, as well as adding further qualified staff to the nursery team.

The newly formed staff team is working well to ensure that children's needs are met and their learning promoted. Staff are kind, caring and considerate, which helps children to feel safe, settled and secure in their care.Staff plan interesting activities, which follow children's interests and build on their prior knowledge and skills.

For example, in the toddler room, staff support children to develop confidence and to play and interact more with their peers. In the pre-school room, staff... extend this learning as they help children to learn about behaviour expectations. Staff help children to learn to manage their behaviour by using their words and calming techniques.

For example, when children begin to get frustrated and upset, staff help them to stop, think and take deep breaths. This de-escalates children's rising emotions and helps them to calm down quickly. At other times, staff remind children about kind hands as they encourage them to consider how their actions impact their peers.

Staff sing simple songs with pre-school children, which reminds them to sit and listen. This helps children to get the most out of the play experiences provided as they are supported to remain focused and engaged.

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

The provider has a clear company ethos and high expectations, which are shared with staff through robust induction.

A clear management handover procedure is followed to ensure that all the required information is shared with the new manager. Alongside this, the new manager is completing her own assessments of staff practice and procedures. This enables her to understand the skills of the staff team and target areas for further improvement.

Staff work closely with parents, gathering clear information from the outset to ensure that they understand children's individual needs. Care and support are then tailored around each child's needs and abilities. Staff identify and share planned teachable moments with parents, which enables them to continue to support their children's learning at home.

Children's communication and language skills are effectively supported through staff introducing monthly stories and rhymes. Staff not only read the book and sing the songs and rhymes in the nursery, but also record and share these experiences with parents. This joint approach increases opportunities for children to develop a love of books and be introduced to more vocabulary.

On occasions, staff do not take time to fully prepare experiences so that children continue to benefit from the quality learning offered. For example, in the toddler room, staff sometimes provide routine experiences or planned activities for children, with little preparation. This results in children swarming to the activity before staff are ready.

This reduces staff's quality interactions and ability to focus on children's learning.Pre-school children independently access breakfast, showing skill as they serve themselves. While staff supervise them from afar, they do not sit with the children and provide quality interactions.

At lunchtime, staff do sit with the children and engage them in simple conversations and discussions. Staff make more effective use of some routine activities to promote children's learning.Staff work closely with parents and other professionals to ensure the inclusion of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

Younger babies are sometimes cared for in the toddler room when numbers are low. The babies are supported by staff, which helps them to develop confidence to explore their surroundings. However, while the babies are included in the planned experiences, these are not consistently pitched at their level of understanding.

For example, during a printing activity, babies are more interested in exploring the feel of the paint on their hands. While staff allow them to do this, they are more focused on talking to the older toddlers about the prints they are making.Staff introduce children to simple counting during their play.

Through positive staff interactions and questioning, children explore their imagination as they pretend to be on a pirate ship. Staff set up activities for children to develop their fine manipulative skills. They place string around boards and between objects, enabling children to practise their cutting skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Children are protected from potential harm through the vigilance of the staff team. Staff help children to learn to play safely.

For example, they discuss with pre-school children how to safely use and hold scissors when they practise their cutting skills. Staff also encourage toddlers to learn to remain seated at the table while eating, so that they do not choke. Management and staff have a clear understanding of their role to safeguard children from abuse and neglect.

The premises are securely maintained, and staff ensure that they conduct head counts when children transition between indoor and outdoor play. This helps to ensure that all children remain accounted for and keeps them safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: help staff to organise and manage routines and activities more effectively, so that children are consistently supported to engage in purposeful learning consider the grouping of children when planning activities for mixed age ranges of children, so that staff fully consider the varying abilities of each child.