Leighs Nurseries

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are inspired and thrive at this nursery. The home-from-home atmosphere and highly effective key-person system enable children to feel extremely happy, safe and secure.

Children willingly leave their parents and settle quickly. They explore the well-planned and highly stimulating environment excitedly and become deeply engaged in their learning. Children consistently make excellent progress from their starting points.

Children's behaviour is exemplary. They demonstrate an excellent understanding of rules and boundaries. Children manage their own behaviour and make successful friendships.

They wo...rk well together, demonstrating care and consideration for all. For example, when a child becomes upset over a crayon, another child gives them theirs without adult direction. Children respond positively to staff, who are superb role models and have high expectations for behaviour.

Children develop excellent independence and self-help skills through carefully planned daily routines. They make their own decisions about their learning, access snacks and drinks independently and manage their personal hygiene.Babies delight in their special bond with their key person and settle easily.

Care practices are skilfully matched to home routines so that babies form secure attachments and feel at ease. Staff have a comprehensive understanding of babies' individual needs and interests, and they expertly weave these into the learning environment.

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

Inspirational leaders support the skilled staff team to develop an ambitious curriculum that responds to the interests and needs of all children.

Staff have an extensive knowledge of what children can do and what they need to do next. Staff provide rich opportunities for children to explore, investigate, solve problems and make decisions. For example, children learn about planting.

They make their own decisions about how many seeds they need and how much soil and water are needed.The highly competent and experienced staff work very effectively as a team. They are conscientious and dedicated, demonstrating great enthusiasm for their work.

Staff are rigorous in their assessments, their planning and the implementation of the curriculum. They grasp every opportunity to build on children's skills and knowledge.The special educational needs and disabilities coordinator (SENDCo) is highly proactive in seeking out support and advice from external services, such as speech and language therapy.

This further enhances targeted support for groups and individuals. The SENDCo liaises closely with parents about children's learning plans, and parents provide useful information from home. Gaps in children's development are quickly identified and addressed.

This meticulous approach ensures that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive exceptional support.Children benefit from a language-rich environment. Staff model language extremely well, making effective links to children's interests and efficiently extending their vocabulary.

For example, when babies explore 'sound makers', staff introduce words such as 'loud', 'quiet', 'shake' and 'tap'. Staff introduce 'lava', 'magma', 'eruptions' and 'explosions' to older children during an experiment to make a volcano erupt. Challenges are provided to children across all areas of learning and staff expertly extend their learning in a meaningful way.

Children's love of stories is strongly promoted. Babies are encouraged to use sounds or words from familiar books to help them develop their language skills. Pre-school children enthusiastically make the 'Gruffalo' lunch, repeating familiar phrases from the book and talking about the different characters.

Staff carefully choose books that build on and broaden children's skills.Staff support children effectively from an early age to develop their understanding of mathematical concepts through meaningful experiences within the environment. For example, children identify numbers beyond 10 on a hopscotch, measure water into measuring jugs and count aloud as they fill and pour from buckets.

Partnerships with parents are admirable. Parents express exceptionally high levels of appreciation for the staff. They report that without exception, staff are warm, kind, sensitive and genuinely care for the children like they are family.

They consistently praise the nurturing approach and explain that this enables children to settle and thrive. Parents are delighted with the guidance the nursery provides to support learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The leadership team has an excellent understanding of its responsibilities in relation to safeguarding. Staff are confident in identifying the signs and symptoms of abuse that may indicate a child is at risk of harm. They understand the procedures they must follow if they have concerns about a child, or if they are concerned about the manager or another member of staff.

The manager implements thorough and effective recruitment procedures to ensure that children are cared for by suitable adults. Staff conduct daily risk assessments to ensure that the nursery is safe and secure. Children learn how to keep healthy and safe.

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