Little Explorers Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children enjoy their time at the setting. Staff welcome them warmly and provide children with activities that are of interest to them. They develop good social skills and enjoy the company of adults and children alike.

Staff encourage children to be independent. They have provided children with water dispensers to enable them to pour their own drinks. Children behave well.

Staff provide them with consistent boundaries to help children follow the rules of the setting. Children use resources to help them understand their own feelings and that of others. Staff provide children with different emotion cards, which help chil...dren to talk about their thoughts and moods.

Children enjoy looking at family photographs in their personal books. This helps children to feel safe and secure.The personal development of children is strongly promoted.

Staff use 'moments of magic' and 'wow boards' to celebrate children's achievements. Children develop good levels of confidence and self-esteem. Staff use consistent praise and children feel valued.

Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, staff have been unable to take older children to visit their new primary schools. The nursery continues to help prepare children for this, such as providing school uniforms for children to dress up in.

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

Children develop a love of books from an early age.

Babies cuddle up with staff and listen to stories. Younger children listen to their favourite tales and make paper crowns like the one the 'giant' wore in the story. Older children enjoy looking at books about different occupations.

They learn interesting facts about the role of a dentist.Staff know children well and what they need to learn next to help them build on their current skills. For babies, staff focus on helping them form close attachments.

Younger children learn how to develop their communication skills. Older children learn how to be more independent in preparation for their move to school.Children enjoy the freedom of being outdoors.

However, due to the setting's rigid timetable, children are not always able to go out as often as they would like. Children who learn best outside do not consistently develop all the skills they need to help them move even further forward in their development.Partnerships with parents are effective.

Parents state that staff show children, 'compassion, love and care'. Staff send activities home, such as craft ideas, for parents and children to complete.All children have good communication and language skills.

Babies experiment with different noises, such as making animal sounds. Younger children engage in imaginative role play. They use narratives in their play and act out experiences they have seen at home.

Older children pretend to be at a doctor's surgery and use good language to talk about why they are 'poorly'. However, staff do not consistently use open-ended questions for younger and older children to extend their vocabulary even further.Care practices are good.

Staff clean all work surfaces, toys and children's sleep mattresses regularly to minimise the risk of cross-infection. Children have freshly laundered bedding and staff support children in cleaning their hands effectively.Staff plan activities that benefit children's needs.

For instance, children learn how to care for babies by using dolls. Children wash their dolls with flannels, wrapping them in a towel afterwards. This helps children understand how to be kind and gentle to others.

Children have good opportunities to visit places in the local community. They regularly visit the garden centre opposite the nursery. Children learn about different flowers, and they enjoy planting them once back at the setting.

The managers and staff work closely with other professionals. They put targeted plans in place to ensure children receive the necessary support they need to help them make good progress.Managers support staff well and they ensure staff use their training knowledge to benefit children.

For instance, children develop an understanding of what will happen 'now' and what will happen 'next'.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff are fully aware of their responsibilities in keeping children safe from harm.

They attend regular child protection training. Managers test staff knowledge to ensure they continue to be aware of when a child may be at risk and who to contact. Robust recruitment procedures are in place to ensure new staff are suitable to work with children.

Staff are aware of children's dietary needs. This helps to prevent children from eating foods that may cause an allergic reaction.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide more opportunities for children to access the outside area, to help develop their skills in all areas develop further staff's use of questioning to help younger and older children extend their vocabulary.