Little Cubs Academy Honor Oak

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive at this welcoming and friendly nursery confident and happy.

They settle quickly and are eager to participate in activities with their friends and adults. Children have developed strong bonds with their key person. The managers have high expectations of all children.

Children develop a positive attitude to their learning. For instance, babies confidently move around the room to access baskets with different resources. They share musical instruments with staff and join in nursery rhymes.

Children show kindness and respect towards others. For example, pre-school children wait patiently for the ser...ving bowl to be passed to them at lunchtime. Children's behaviour is good.

Children are encouraged to be independent and make choices about their play. They show high levels of enthusiasm as they excitedly talk about what they are going to make. For instance, pre-school children describe how they are going to make a 'bamboo house' using the straws.

Children develop good communication and language skills. They have lots of opportunities to be curious and use all their senses. For instance, babies paddle in water and enjoy splashing and pouring water onto their feet.

Toddlers feel the texture of ice and discuss how it changes over time. Children are exploring cause and effect.

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

Children enjoy imaginative play.

They manage different crockery and utensils as they explore food from around the world. For example, children share 'pizza' and 'fruit tart' with staff and visitors. Staff engage children in conversation.

They encourage them to think about and describe what they are doing. This builds on children's communication and language skills. However, staff in the baby room do not consistently model language.

On occasions, such as group times, staff do not ensure that all children have equal opportunities to be involved. Sometimes, staff focus on the more confident children and miss the quieter children. As a result, children do not benefit equally from staff's interactions and teaching.

Overall, parents are positive about the quality of care and education their children receive. They feel well informed about their children's progress and know how to support their learning at home. However, leaders and managers do not make effective use of the self-evaluation process.

They do not gather feedback from parents and children. This would help identify weaknesses and drive improvements forward.Children's physical and emotional well-being is supported well.

For instance, the manager uses the library space to support children returning to nursery following the COVID-19 pandemic closures. Children access a well-resourced garden where they are able to climb, balance and build on their large- and small-muscle skills.Children learn how to keep themselves healthy.

For example, they grow their own vegetables. Staff talk to babies about the 'round blue berries'. Staff discuss with toddlers why drinking water is good for you.

They explain the importance of being hydrated. Children are attentive and behave well. They are developing good listening skills.

Pre-school children reflect on their previous learning during activities. They talk about making play dough into 'frogspawn'. Children confidently explain the life cycle of frogs.

They are developing good skills for future learning.Children take great delight in facing new challenges. For instance, staff encourage older children to write the day of the week on the white board.

Children take time to add numbers together before proudly announcing the answer. Children are developing their literacy and mathematical skills.Babies enjoy snuggling up with adults to hear stories.

Staff extend children's learning as they turn books into real-life experiences. For instance, they take the life-sized bear into the garden and replicate the images in the stories. This builds on children's literacy skills.

Staff observe and monitor children's progress. They work effectively with parents and professionals to support children's individual needs. All children, including those who receive additional funding and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities make secure progress.

The ambitious manager's curriculum includes regular trips to forest school. Children learn about the natural environment. They cooperate with others and learn how to manage risks.

This helps to build on children's resilience skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager and staff have good knowledge of safeguarding.

They know the procedures to follow should they have any concerns about a child's welfare. This includes the procedure to follow if they have concerns about children who are displaying extreme views or behaviours. Staff are aware of safeguarding matters, such as female genital mutilation.

They know the correct procedures to be follow if an allegation is made against a colleague. Leaders follow safe recruitment procedures to ensure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: promote children's communication skills in the baby room further by consistently modelling language throughout the day provide guidance for staff to better organise large-group times for pre-school children, to ensure that all children have equal opportunity to participate and share their ideas seek feedback actively from parents and children during the evaluation process to help raise the quality of teaching and learning for all children.