Little Rascals Day Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

The management and team of nurturing staff ensure that children are warmly welcomed into an inviting, homely and fun environment in which to learn.

Along with children's interests, the nursery's five core values influence the flexible and ambitious curriculum. For example, their values that underpin all learning opportunities include promoting independence, becoming clear and confident communicators, celebrating individuality, establishing strong bonds and learning about the community. Children demonstrate that they are confident, feel safe and secure and are eager learners.

They have established strong bonds with thei...r key person and, therefore, leave their parents with ease and quickly engage in activities of their choice. The committed team invests time getting to know the children and their family before they attend to ensure a smooth transition from home to nursery.Throughout the day there is a calm and happy atmosphere.

Staff are good role models. They are caring and attentive to children's needs. Children are busy and play very well together.

For example, they show great curiosity and perseverance as they make good attempts to solve problems. They negotiate together as they fix different-sized drainpipes from a water tray to make a run for their trucks. A bend in a pipe provides them with additional problems but they do not give up.

Staff are subtle and skilful in their interactions and offers of help. Staff speak with genuine kindness and are respectful of the children, listening to what they have to say and supporting their choices.

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

The management and team of staff ensure that the curriculum is relevant and well planned.

Knowledgeable staff fully understand how to plan in the moment to support children's ideas and lead their learning both indoors and outdoors.A good settling-in process ensures that staff know the children well. They have a good understanding of child development and where children are in their progress when they first attend.

The quality of teaching is good. While there are good systems in place to communicate daily and share some information with parents, there are fewer opportunities to discuss children's ongoing progress, so as to support their learning at home.Parents speak positively of all aspects of the nursery.

They are keen to express their appreciation for the welcoming, approachable and kind team and the care offered to their children. Parents comment that they feel completely reassured their children are in safe hands.Babies have immense fun participating in messy play.

They enjoy the sensory smells and feel of 'chocolate flavoured gloop'. They learn the skill of scooping the mixture using spoons to fill cups. They giggle as they excitedly join in song time, singing familiar songs.

They use instruments and bells with gusto. Babies' individual routines are respected, and staff know when children become tired. They offer reassurance and cuddles and make them comfortable, soothing them to aid restful sleep.

Staff talk about their role at nursery with enthusiasm. They say they feel fully supported through training opportunities to develop their practice and knowledge and through regular supervision. They say they feel valued, their ideas are welcome and that their well-being is fully considered by the management team.

Children are confident speakers. For example, they confidently tell visitors to the nursery what they like to do while at nursery. They discuss their families and invite visitors to join in their games.

They ask questions and show an interest in what is happening during the inspection. Staff engage children in conversation and have a clear comprehension of how children develop their conversation skills.Young children thoroughly enjoy using construction toys.

They build with bricks and talk about the tall towers they make. Children play with toy trains, dinosaurs and cars and absorb themselves in imaginary play. Role play is initially popular and sparks some interest.

They enjoy using dolls in their play. However, the lack of resources and challenge in this area means they soon become bored and move on to something else. In addition, there is a lack of comfortable cosy spaces for younger children to sit and relax if needed.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen partnerships even further with parents to consistently share information about their child's progress and help them extend and support learning at home provide younger children with cosy spaces to relax and provide a broader range of role-play resources to enable all children to explore and develop their own play and ideas.