Little Acorns Hindley Green

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The stable and highly skilled staff team promotes children's care and learning effectively. Many long-standing relationships help staff to know the needs of the children and their families very well.

Staff's gentle, nurturing approaches help most children to settle and fully engage in what the nursery has to offer. Children arrive confidently and they are ready to play and learn. They access environments that are mostly planned effectively and promote much of their learning sequentially.

For example, toddlers identify their coat peg by their photo, while pre-school children learn how to do this by recognising their nam...e. Babies and toddlers explore with intrigue. They are inspired by items which stimulate their senses and are provided in response to things which specifically interest them.

Staff build on children's interests well to provide meaningful activities which enable them to practise their skills and extend learning further.The development of children's social skills, physical skills and aspects of their communication and language is appropriately prioritised. Children develop firm friendships.

They collaborate and have fun together as they play. They run freely and explore the large outdoor grounds confidently. Children have many opportunities to make marks and to develop their finger and hand muscles.

Consequently, older children are keen to 'write' for a purpose. They make a register in the school-themed role-play area. The carefully thought out curriculum helps children to gain the kinds of knowledge and skills they need in readiness for their future move to school.

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

Leaders are managing a period of change well. They evaluate effectively, ably assessing the effectiveness of actions taken to improve since the previous inspection. They consider what they do well now and plan how they can make the quality of education even better.

Leaders know that parts of the premises and the arrangements for sleep times would benefit from improvement. They have taken action to maintain safety while they are working closely with staff to design building improvements that will have the most benefit for the children.The high priority given to continuing professional development has resulted in a team of many skilled and experienced staff.

This has a positive impact on the quality of education for all children, including those who are disadvantaged. For example, following recent local training and identification of local need, leaders and staff have focused heavily on improving the curriculum for communication and language. They are making appropriate use of additional funding to provide more resources, such as story sacks and floor books, which give rich opportunities for building children's vocabulary.

Staff make effective use of small-group activities to help to encourage children's thinking and speaking. Babies confidently repeat words and actions as staff support them to dress their dolls. Toddlers join in with familiar songs, and they know what comes next.

Staff working in the pre-school room begin to introduce sensitively some of the sounds that letters represent. This supports children's listening skills in readiness for literacy in school.The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) successfully uses her comprehensive knowledge of local arrangements for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND).

She links closely with other supporting professionals, accurately assesses need and identifies precise targets for learning. Through strong relationships with staff, children with SEND progress well, particularly in their understanding and communication. However, they are not all consistently supported to access the curriculum as fully as possible and achieve the learning intended for them.

Most of the time staff implement the curriculum very well. They think carefully about how to promote the skills they want children to learn. For example, staff help the development of children's small-muscle movements in many aspects of play.

They provide an abundance of small tools and equipment for children to master. Toddlers excitedly pull and push syringes in water play, pretending to put out fires like a firefighter. Children are developing positive attitudes to play and learning.

Staff know the children well. They are skilled at recognising when children are learning well and when they need extra support. Often staff spontaneously adapt their interactions to meet individual children's learning needs.

Occasionally, however, staff do not build on what some children can already do to help them to achieve as much as they can. This is particularly evident in the ways that staff implement the curriculum for children's personal, social and emotional development and promoting children's self-care.Staff work closely with parents right from the start to assess and plan how to meet children's individual needs.

This works particularly well when children have health or medical needs. Leaders use what parents know to establish specific care plans, training for staff and detailed risk assessments. Parents are also invited into the nursery to experience the curriculum in action.

For example, many parents recently took part in Mother's Day activities with their children. Parents speak highly of the staff at the nursery and develop high levels of trust.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Leaders have ensured that staff are well trained and knowledgeable about matters relating to child protection. They have provided clear procedures for staff to report any concerns that they may have about children's welfare. Additionally, leaders understand and follow robust procedures if any allegations are made about staff.

Leaders and staff use their strong relationships with parents and other professionals to help ensure that the children and families who need it, get the right support. Risk assessment of the premises is sufficient to address any immediate issues, which helps to keep children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide consistently high levels of support for children with SEND to help every child make the best possible progress support staff to implement sequenced opportunities for learning consistently so that every child continuously builds on what they know and can do for themselves.