Little Owls Nursery Hunslet St Mary’s

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Strong attachments between staff and children are evident.

Children are happy, safe and settled in the nurturing environment. They arrive excitedly and greet their key person and other staff. Children's behaviour is good.

Staff are very positive role models. They manage minor disagreements quickly so that children learn right from wrong. Staff have high expectations of children and, overall, plan a well-balanced curriculum.

For example, staff encourage older children to spell their names using letters on bottle tops. Furthermore, children attempt to write their names independently, and concentrate well to comp...etently form letters. Children are very proud of their work.

Younger children take part in large-group singing sessions. Staff are animated as they sing and dance with children. Children are highly motivated and eager to join in.

Children enjoy imaginative play in the home corner. They invite staff into their play and staff take on the role of a customer in a restaurant. Children relish the opportunity to serve food and write menus.

Staff challenge children to see how high they can build in the construction area. They weave mathematical concepts into play as they encourage children to count, measure and compare their towers.

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

The manager has a good knowledge of her role and individual responsibilities.

She has a good understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of the setting and strives for continuous improvement. However, new systems used to monitor children's achievements are not fully embedded. Nevertheless, children are making good progress and are developing the skills they need for their future learning.

Partnerships with professionals are highly effective. Staff work closely with the local school, health visitors and the local outreach team to support children and their families. This promotes continuity of children's care and education.

Children explore a wide variety of interesting resources that can be used imaginatively. They enjoy taking part in creative activities, where they can make collages with varied materials. For instance, children are fascinated as they drip glue from spreaders and add glitter and pom-poms to their pictures.

Furthermore, they enjoy making ice cream with mud and sticks and cooking in the mud kitchen.Partnerships with parents are good. Staff get to know children and their families well through an effective settling-in procedure.

They carry out home visits to new families and gather valuable information about children's individual needs. For example, staff complete 'All about me' booklets. They use this information to identify children's starting points effectively.

Parents say that they feel fully involved in their child's learning.Children are keen to speak to staff and share their ideas. Staff listen and speak clearly to children.

They repeat and extend children's sentences, adding more descriptive words. This helps to expand children's vocabulary and build their confidence. Furthermore, children relish sharing stories with staff and join in with familiar action songs and rhymes.

Children behave well. Staff sensitively help them to learn how to share toys and resources. For example, when playing with dough, they encourage children to swap tools to enable them to continue with their creations.

This helps children to gain skills for their future.The daily routine offers children a busy, stimulating and exciting day. However, occasionally, the organisation of some aspects of the daily routine does not fully support children to develop concentration and attention skills.

For example, during some transitions, children became rather overexcited and sometimes were disruptive.Staff provide children with a rich set of experiences that promote an excellent understanding of the community and the wider world. Children discuss how they are all individual and unique.

They draw pictures of their families and mark the places that they have visited on a world map. Furthermore, staff arrange for people from the local community, such as police officers, to come and talk to children about their roles.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff have a secure understanding of their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. They are aware of the signs and symptoms of possible child abuse and wider safeguarding issues, including the 'Prevent' duty guidance. Staff understand the procedures to follow if they are concerned about the welfare of a child.

They know how to take appropriate action, including liaising with relevant professionals, to tackle concerns in a timely way. Staff are clear about how to respond in the event of an allegation being made against a member of staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nembed the recently developed assessment procedures fully, to help raise children's achievements further nimprove the organisation of the daily routine to better support children's concentration and attention skills.

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