Little Lionhearts Nursery School

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are safe and happy at the nursery. They arrive with big smiles and are excited to explore and engage in the interesting activities that staff carefully plan for them.

Children settle in well and develop confidence in exploring their environment. They enjoy playing outdoors and develop their physical skills well. For instance, children run, jump and climb.

They balance along beams, use the slide and learn to pedal on bikes. Younger children are beginning to walk and cruise around the furniture. They enjoy the healthy lunch and snacks provided, and feed themselves independently using cutlery.

Children e...njoy looking at books, listening to stories and singing songs. This helps all children develop their speech and learn new words quickly. Older children enjoy retelling familiar stories about princesses and role play this with one another.

Children behave well. They understand the expectations that staff have of them. For example, they know to tidy up their toys before moving on to the next activity.

Staff act as good role models to children. Children receive positive praise from staff about the good choices they make. Children copy this to support and encourage one another by saying 'good job', 'well done' and 'we've done it'.

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

Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents talk positively about the setting and the progress their children make. Staff update parents on what their children have done through daily discussions.

There is an online system to share information on children's learning. Parents say they like this and comment that it has brought them closer to staff in sharing information on their children. For example, children have been reading 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears'.

Parents have been able to share ideas on their children's interests and what to plan next.Staff are caring. They interact warmly with children during care routines, such as nappy changes, mealtimes and while washing hands.

They make eye contact, talk about what they are doing with children and sing songs. At sleep and rest times, staff reassure children by patting and stroking them. This helps children feel safe and secure.

Staff regularly observe, plan and provide creative and exciting experiences that children engage with. All children are making good progress across the seven areas of learning. Any possible gaps in learning are quickly identified and appropriate support put in place.

Children are well prepared for next stages of learning. Overall, the curriculum is well sequenced, ambitious and challenging.Children develop their independence and self-care skills generally well.

They select the toys they want to play with, make choices and ensure they tidy up afterwards. Staff help children to perform tasks, such as putting on their coats, shoes, hats and gloves. Children also show confidence in pulling up zips and fastening buttons independently.

Older children understand why handwashing is important and talk about 'keeping germs away'. However, lunchtimes are not as well managed as well as other routines in the setting. Children are not always encouraged to develop their independence skills even further and staff try to engage them in conversations that do not always stimulate them.

Managers and leaders support children with special educational needs and or/disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language well. They work effectively with other professionals and use strategies recommended for them to support these children. This ensures that every child makes good progress.

Children are curious and motivated to learn. They build good relationships with their friends and staff. They focus on the activities that are available.

Children are kind to one another and support each other when things become difficult. Pre-school children play with play dough. They work together to roll, pat and squash it.

Babies and toddlers enjoy playing with sand. They explore the texture and use spades and spoons to fill containers.The manager and leaders have worked hard to address the weaknesses identified at the last inspection.

They work closely with staff to support their learning through training and development. Staff receive effective support from the manager and value regular supervision meetings. Good induction, support and training opportunities enable staff to clearly understand their roles and responsibilities.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff closely supervise children and provide a secure environment to ensure children remain safe. Daily risk assessments are carried out and the provision is clean and safe.

Staff attend training to ensure their safeguarding knowledge is kept up to date. They recognise the signs which may indicate a child is at risk of harm. Staff have a clear understanding of what to do if an allegation is made against them or a member of staff.

Staff ensure that children's dietary needs are met by closely supervising them as they eat. There are thorough procedures and checks in place to ensure 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: make better use of routine activities and strengthen opportunities for children to extend their learning further.