Little Ones - Budlake

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled in this nurturing nursery.

They separate well from their parents and receive a warm welcome from the caring staff, which helps them to feel safe and secure. They enjoy using the varied range of accessible resources and getting involved in activities. For example, younger children explore the texture of oats and dried spaghetti and older children experiment freely with gloop.

Staff do not place limitations on this exploration, and when children want to spread the gloop up their arms they are able to do so. Children build strong friendships. For example, a group of children decide to put on... a show together and work as a team to give out tickets and decide what the show will be.

Children respect others and share toys. Staff know children well and support all of them to make good progress from their individual starting points. Staff and children interact well with one another and children are confident to seek support as required.

Staff provide encouragement and praise, which builds children's sense of achievement. For example, staff praise young children for sitting at the table and using their spoon to eat their lunch. Staff value children's opinions.

They ask for a show of hands so that children can decide which outdoor area they would like to use.

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

Staff support children's learning well. They get starting points from parents which help them understand what children can already do.

They then build on this to assess children's progress and identify what they need to do next. They understand the overall curriculum for the children and all staff are involved in planning the delivery of this. Staff ensure that children have opportunities to revisit what they have learnt to ensure it is embedded before they move on to the next steps in their learning.

Staff provide high levels of support for children that need additional help. They put tailored planning in place to focus on any gaps in children's learning to help them catch up. Where children still need extra help, the special educational needs coordinator works closely with parents and other agencies to ensure that the right support is put in place to help children achieve their potential.

Children are confident and keen to join in with activities. They enjoy taking part in a music and movement activity, for example. They take turns choosing a partner and then dance with them while the others sing.

Children develop independent skills, such as washing their hands, helping themselves to drinks of water and clearing up their plates after lunch.Children are confident communicators. Older children chat to visitors and ask them to write their names on tickets.

Staff and children chat throughout the day and opportunities, such as lunchtime, provide a good time for discussion when staff sit and eat with children.Children learn about healthy lifestyles. They enjoy nutritious home-cooked food, such as courgette muffins for snack and a roast dinner for lunch, and find out about what foods are good for them.

They enjoy regular exercise as they use ride-in cars and play on climbing apparatus.Leaders and staff work closely together. The manager regularly meets with staff to review their practice and discuss their well-being.

The manager is keen to develop staff's skills further and there are good opportunities for them to attend in-house training and use online training platforms. However, this learning is not yet fully embedded and staff do not consistently seize every opportunity to extend children's learning as much as possible.The learning environment sometimes becomes noisy, making it hard to hear and focus.

Children's voices increase in volume as they play and staff do not always step in to reduce noise levels and encourage a calm atmosphere.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Staff complete relevant training as part of their induction and refresh it regularly.

Managers ensure that staff's knowledge is kept up to date through quizzes and discussion at team meetings. Staff have a secure understanding of the signs that a child may be at risk of harm and know what to do if they have concerns. They know how to escalate their concerns to external agencies if managers do not take appropriate action.

Managers and staff are alert to the dangers of children encountering harmful content or activity online and display information for parents about online safety. Staff are vigilant about supervising children to keep them safe and do half hourly headcounts to ensure that they know who is present and where they are.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide further mentoring and coaching for staff to develop their ability to extend children's learning as much as possible during both adult-led and child-initiated activities develop staff's ability to provide a calm learning environment at all times.