Liliput Day Nursery (York) Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and content in this warm and welcoming nursery. They feel safe and secure because of the trusting relationships that they have with their key person.

Children know that their needs will be met. Babies reach out to their key person, who immediately gives them the reassurance that they need. Staff have high expectations for children.

They act as good role models. Staff use manners and treat each other with respect. This helps children to understand what is expected of them.

As a result, children behave well.Children benefit from staff who interact and play with them purposefully. They are spok...en to sensitively and calmly.

Children are introduced to a rich vocabulary from an early age. Babies are encouraged to say single words. Older children are introduced to new words during group activities.

They learn that dry leaves are 'scrunchy' and 'crunchy' and wet leaves are 'squishy' and 'squashy'. Children have many opportunities to develop their self-care skills and to be independent. However, these opportunities are not consistent throughout the nursery.

During mealtimes, children are given knives. However, they are not encouraged to use them. Additionally, although serving spoons are provided, these are too big for children to use.

This causes staff to take over the task.

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

Managers are passionate about the service that they provide. The provider is ambitious and determined to offer a high-quality experience for all children.

She has a realistic and accurate view of the nursery. The provider works with other professionals to identify areas for development. Staff report that they feel supported and valued.

Parents confirm that they are kept informed of children's daily experiences. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive a good level of support. Staff have face-to-face discussions with parents, and information is also shared electronically.

Parents receive information about what children are learning and the next steps in their development. This helps parents to support children's development even further at home.Children concentrate on their chosen activities with staff, who enthusiastically join in with them.

Staff and children sit at an easel, drawing houses together. They chat about each other's creations. Other children squeal with delight as staff and children enjoy a game of chase and hide and seek outside.

These interactions help children to understand that their play is important, and helps to develop children's confidence and well-being.Babies eagerly explore and play with the sensory resources available to them. They explore the paint, using their hands and feet to make marks on the paper.

Babies enjoy shaking the sensory bottles and passing objects from one hand to another. As a result, they begin to develop their hand-to-eye coordination skills. Older children discover what happens when colours are mixed together.

Activities are adapted to suit children's needs. For example, some children do not like to get paint on their hands. The paint is put under plastic film to allow them to explore the same activity.

This helps children to understand that their views and opinions matter.Overall, staff have a good understanding of what they need to teach and how they will teach. For example, children are learning number values, with a particular focus on the number zero.

Activities are introduced throughout the setting to incorporate counting. However, some of the less-experienced staff do not have a clear grasp of the correct meaning. They refer to zero as meaning 'nothing', rather than representing 'none'.

In general, consistent routines are provided for children. This helps children to understand what happens next. However, some routines are disorganised.

Staff do not organise the lunchtime routine as effectively as possible. A story is read before lunch. Children are called away to go to the toilet and wash their hands.

This limits the time they have to fully engage in the story. Additionally, children sit for a long time waiting for their lunch, and between courses. This reduces the time spent in purposeful play and learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.All staff are trained in paediatric first aid. This helps them to know how to respond in the case of an accident or injury.

Staff go through robust suitability checks before being allowed to work with children. These procedures help to ensure children's safety and well-being at the nursery. The provider has created a culture of awareness in the nursery.

Staff know what to do should they have a concern about another member of staff or one of the management team. The management team regularly check staff's understanding of child protection, including wider safeguarding issues.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nimprove strategies to ensure all staff consistently encourage children to develop their independence skills and do more things for themselves support all staff to understand and follow agreed approaches, so they are clear what mathematical skills and knowledge they want children to gain review and make changes to the organisation of the lunchtime routine, to reduce waiting times and to ensure children are not removed from activities, to help children remain focused and engaged in tasks and activities.