Little Gems Day Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very confident communicators. Younger children stand up in front of their friends to sing a nursery rhyme on their own. Older children tell staff and other children about books that parents read to them at home.

Children show positive relationships with staff. For example, they give them cuddles when they arrive and leave the nursery. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children learn to share. Older children work together to sweep up soil off a table and say, 'It is teamwork.'

Children value the praise they receive from staff..., such as a 'high five'. They behave well. Staff know children well and provide them with unique opportunities that encourage their independence.

They ask them to take off their socks and shoes on their own. Children happily let staff paint the bottom of their feet. They say that the paint 'tickles'.

Children have fun and laugh with staff. The management team and staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities effectively. They put targeted plans in place to promote their individual needs.

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

Staff use the curriculum to enhance opportunities for children and to help them to be prepared for their next stage in learning. For example, they consistently promote personal hygiene routines, such as handwashing. Staff help children to learn to care for their teeth to promote oral hygiene.

Staff share information with parents about children's interests and what they need to learn next. This helps them to know their children's achievements and how they can continue to support them at home. Parents comment positively about staff.

They say that they are 'friendly and professional'. However, staff do not consistently share information about children's achievements with all other early years settings they also attend, to promote consistency in their learning.The manager evaluates the effectiveness of the nursery.

She gathers the views of staff and parents to help identify changes to the experiences children receive. Recent improvements to the environment offer children more opportunities for focused learning. This contributes to children being motivated to learn.

The manager offers staff appraisal and supervision meetings to discuss their role and ongoing training needs. Staff extend their professional development. They attend training courses that help to deepen their knowledge of how to support older children's literacy skills.

Children learn the sounds that represent letters of the alphabet.Staff support children's communication and language skills. They sing songs and nursery rhymes with children in all the rooms at the nursery.

They occasionally leave off the end of sentences for children to finish. This helps them to develop their speaking skills. When staff speak to older children, they introduce new words and explain their meaning, such as 'encyclopaedia' and 'Jupiter'.

This contributes to children's understanding.Staff make sure children have access to the large outdoor area where they take and manage risks in their play. Younger children push themselves along with their legs on ride-on toys, which helps to develop their muscles.

Older children jump from one wooden stepping stone to another. This helps them to develop their balance and coordination.Staff know children well and are aware of their interests and the experiences they receive at home.

For example, when they know parents are expecting a new baby, they provide resources such as toy dolls and a baby bath for children to use in their play. This helps to prepare children for the changes they will face, which promotes their emotional well-being. However, staff do not consistently make the most of their interactions with children to extend their learning and enable them to make the best possible progress.

Staff actively promote positive behaviour. They give children plenty of praise and encouragement. Staff encourage children to persevere with tasks.

For example, staff tell children to 'keep trying' when they struggle to fit together pieces of a toy train track. They offer children suggestions and ideas. Children develop a can-do attitude to learning.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The manager regularly checks that staff's knowledge of child protection is up to date. For example, they ask them questions about possible signs of abuse.

The manager and staff understand their responsibility to promote children's welfare. They know to work with other agencies to keep children safe. Staff complete risk assessments of the environment.

They count children when they move them to different areas in the nursery, such as when they go outside and to the dining room. This contributes to children's safety.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: share information consistently about children's achievements with all other early years settings they also attend, to promote consistency in their learning make the most of all opportunities that arise through interactions with children to extend their learning, so they make the best possible progress.