Leaps and Bounds Children’s Centre and Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create an interesting and welcoming environment for children. They greet them warmly on arrival. This helps children settle quickly, and they soon engage in their chosen activity.

Established key-person systems mean that staff know children and their learning needs well. Resources are attractively displayed, which helps to capture children's interest. For example, younger children are keen to explore a tray with flour and various-sized brushes in.

They feel the flour and make patterns in it with their hands and a variety of different-sized paintbrushes. Staff are gentle, kind and caring towards the children and s...upport their emotional well-being effectively. Babies and very young children enjoy cuddles and reassurance from staff when visitors are in the room.

Children in turn show kindness to one another and enjoy caring for the nursery rabbit. Staff praise children's behaviour, which builds their confidence and self-esteem. Children are encouraged to become independent from an early age.

They learn to wash their hands at appropriate times during the day and to feed themselves at mealtimes. However, children are not always given appropriate cutlery to use. Children really enjoy circle time, talking about the activities they have been involved in and singing songs, especially those with actions.

However, at times, the noise levels can rise and the environment appears chaotic. This impacts on children's learning and play.

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

Managers and staff are committed to providing high-quality care and learning for children.

Staff well-being is a priority. Regular monitoring of staff performance enables staff to identify professional development opportunities to continually enhance their knowledge and skills. Managers are positive role models and spend time in the nursery with the children.

They recognise the skills of their staff team and the work that it does in supporting children to continually make good progress.Partnership with parents is good. Staff work closely with parents to ensure that their child's needs are known and met, both in their care and learning.

They consider what they want children to learn and use this to plan an interesting and stimulating curriculum. Parents play an active role in supporting their child's learning at home. They regularly share information about their child's adventures at home and new skills they are acquiring.

This information helps to inform planning and identifying their child's next steps in learning.Children learn about similarities and differences. They see positive images of people from around the world and with different abilities through resources and books.

Photos of children's families are displayed within the nursery. This encourages children to talk about the special people in their lives and things they enjoy doing together.Children's safety is paramount.

Security measures are effective, and people are only allowed onto the premises when the manager and staff are sure of who they are. Visitors' identities are checked, and a record is maintained of their time in the setting.Effective routines are in place to ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive the care and additional support they need to make progress.

Staff work in partnership with other agencies to ensure that children receive a consistent approach to their learning to enable them to make progress from their individual starting points.Children relish spending time outdoors and benefit from plenty of fresh air and exercise. They eagerly lift stones and logs to look for insects, recognising which are woodlice, worms and ants.

Children squeal with delight when a member of staff thinks they have found a worm. However, children are quick to point out that it is a stick and not a worm.Children's language and communication skills are supported well.

Staff engage in lots of conversation with children. Children enjoy sharing their experiences and recall eating pizza at home. Staff introduce new words, such as 'coriander', as children make their own pizzas using tortillas, sweetcorn, cheese, tomatoes and herbs.

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 further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to recognise the impact that noise levels have on children's ability to fully engage with the curriculum on offer review arrangements of mealtimes to ensure that children have access to appropriate cutlery.