Little Gem’s Childcare

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and secure in the setting. The manager warmly welcomes each child on arrival and children separate from their parents with ease. They confidently say goodbye and put their belongings away.

Children quickly settle into the rooms for the day. They explore freely while adults engage with them and join in their play. Staff form positive relationships with children, offer them encouragement and promote children's positive attitudes to learning.

This helps children to feel self-assured and confident.Staff encourage children to be independent, which helps to prepare them for school. They learn how to use th...e toilet, wash their hands and serve their snack.

Staff take the children out for first-hand experiences, such as visits to the local library, to feed the ducks on the lake, nature walks and local play parks.Children are learning to understand the importance of oral hygiene and a healthy diet. They have opportunities to practise brushing teeth correctly through their role play and exploration.

During snack and mealtimes, they taste a range of healthy fruits and enjoy the nutritious meals that staff provide. This supports children to learn and develop healthy lifestyles.

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

Children enjoy activities to support their physical development.

For example, they negotiate space as they ride scooters and bicycles in the garden. Children complete obstacle courses inside with the soft-play equipment. This involves balancing, climbing and coordinating their next move.

Children are motivated and show a 'can-do' attitude.Staff prioritise children's communication and language development. For example, they follow children's lead in play.

They listen and respond, modelling language and repeating new words and phrases. Staff provide a range of visual aids to support children's choices. This results in children of all abilities making good progress in their communication.

Partnership working with parents is effective. Parents say they are happy with the care and education their children receive during their time at the nursery. They comment positively on the progress children make.

They are kept up to date on their children's progress, such as through handover time at the end of the session. This helps extend children's learning at home, creating consistency.The managers find learning to benefit all staff and they are motivated to complete regular courses.

For instance, staff have recently accessed training to help and support children's mental health. The staff team and manager work together effectively. Supervision and peer observations support staff to improve practice and enhance their interactions with children.

Staff attend regular staff meetings to support each other, share ideas and discuss good practice.The managers work effectively in partnership with external agencies. Staff identify children's needs quickly and put in place the extra support some children need.

This ensures that children make good progress from their starting points, including children who speak English as an additional language and children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.Staff know the children well. They find out about children's interests when they start nursery.

Managers plan a curriculum designed to help children build on what they already know and can do. However, during some parts of the day, the curriculum is not implemented as well by the staff. Staff do not always consistently extend children's thinking during their play and exploration.

As a result, sometimes, children disengage and do not make the best possible progress in their learning.Overall, children behave well. They use good manners and learn to say 'please' and 'thank you'.

Some adults give clear explanations so that children learn to understand the impact of their behaviour. This helps children respond positively and be considerate of others. However, occasionally, staff do not respond in a consistent manner, meaning that children repeat the same unwanted behaviours and do not understand why they are unacceptable.

The provider failed to notify Ofsted of a significant event, as required. However, this did not result in any harm to children and the provider has taken appropriate action to address this issue. Ofsted does not intend to take any action on this occasion.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The management team ensures that staff complete regular training so that they can identify children at risk of abuse. Staff know the procedures to follow if they have concerns about a child or an adult.

Managers ensure ratios are always met, and staff are deployed well so that children are supervised and kept safe during their time at the setting. Staff implement effective risk assessments to check that the environment and equipment are suitable for children's play and learning.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: sharpen the implementation of the curriculum to enhance children's engagement and levels of concentration provide a more consistent approach to behaviour management to better support children's understanding of appropriate behaviour.