Little Stars Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is outstanding

Children are highly settled and content to attend.

They comment that they really enjoy nursery. Key-person arrangements are excellent. Managers and staff make use of the settling-in period to go above and beyond to get to know children and families amazingly well from the outset.

This includes taking a basket of nursery toys to visit them in their home environment. Staff ease babies' and young children's transition into nursery as they routinely reassure and soothe them as needed. The atmosphere is calm, and the nursery routines are embedded.

Children are highly confident and independent. They make choi...ces about what they want to do. Children have strong bonds with staff and show care and consideration for the environment and each other.

Staff meet children's care needs with the utmost respect. Therefore, they cooperate well throughout the day.The educational ethos of this nursery is excellent.

Staff skilfully create an environment filled with activities and experiences that ignite children's curiosity and evoke awe and wonder. For example, babies love sensory exploration with water and soil. Staff encourage them to get messy as they touch and feel the materials and pour, fill and empty containers.

Toddlers enthusiastically enjoy role play in the home area with real-life items and mark making using pens at the table. This helps to extend their creative play and imaginative skills. Pre-school children like natural exploration in the forest area.

They delight in combining materials to make 'sticky gunk' and digging freely with shovels. They also love birdwatching and finding insects to study. This helps them further their understanding of the world.

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

The management team at this nursery has a very clear vision. Managers are passionate and ambitious in their aim to endlessly strive for the best possible outcomes for all children and their families. They work closely with staff to constantly review the nursery environments, their educational approaches and children's progress.

This helps them to achieve the highest standards.Managers have an excellent programme of professional development that celebrates staff's expertise and allows them to grow. For example, staff have recently undertaken refresher training in how to promote the prime areas of children's learning, including their communication, social and physical skills, taking into account the potentially negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This has an extremely positive impact on the quality of education they provide.Staff report that they feel incredibly well supported in their roles. Managers recognise the hard work of their team and are sensitive to their staff's well-being and needs.

For example, managers complete regular check-ins with staff, both one to one and as a team. They have a dedicated mental health first aider who signposts staff to support if needed.Managers have created an ambitious curriculum with strong core values.

Staff are in tune with their key children's age and stage of development. They successfully plan activities in the moment based on children's interests and learning needs. All children become curious, ambitious, adventurous and resilient learners.

They are extremely well prepared for their future learning, including school, well in advance of moving on.Children's backgrounds, home lives and cultures are celebrated. Staff offer children a wealth of experiences to broaden their horizons.

This includes a recent trip to the theatre, going litter picking locally and pond dipping.Staff prioritise healthy lifestyles as they teach children about the importance of hygiene regimes, such as finding their own tissues to wipe their nose and washing their hands before eating. The nursery menu is very nutritious and is constantly updated in line with nutritional and dental health guidance.

Pre-school children benefit greatly from plenty of fresh air and exercise in all weathers. They take manageable risks and delight in carefully negotiating a physical obstacle course outside in the pouring rain.Communication, language and literacy are expertly promoted.

Staff talk to children and introduce new vocabulary that is modelled for a clear purpose, such as 'magnificent'. The curriculum provides opportunity for a chosen book to be explored each month. Children eagerly listen to staff read their new story about a witch and a dragon and excitedly learn a new song about it.

They learn about the characters and are beginning to recall what happens with confidence.The nursery is highly inclusive. The special educational needs coordinator has an excellent understanding of her key role.

An abundance of initiatives to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language are in place. This helps to ensure that any gaps in attainment between them and their peers are rapidly closed.Parent partnerships are exceptional.

Staff work very closely with all families. They ensure parents are kept highly informed about their children's time at nursery and value their input and contributions. Parents report positively on the activities, ideas and suggestions that support them to extend their children's learning at home.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The culture of safeguarding at this nursery is excellent. Recruitment is robust and induction processes for new staff are extremely thorough.

All staff are suitably vetted to work with children. The premises are highly secure and safe. The nursery environment is well organised, and cleanliness is maintained throughout.

Managers and staff know how to act in the best interest of children and their families to identify, prevent and manage child protection concerns in a timely way. Managers and staff work with external charities, local health services and safeguarding professionals extremely well in a variety of ways. This helps children and their families get relevant help and the support they need to ensure their welfare.