Little Years Nursery Acomb

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff are kind, caring and welcoming to children and their families.

They provide a nurturing environment and help children to feel safe and secure at the nursery. Children, including those who are newer to the nursery, explore the resources with confidence and settle in quickly. Their behaviour is positive, and staff use specific praise to help them understand boundaries and expectations.

Staff help children to become familiar with routines and know how to meet their individual needs effectively. Staff provide a tailored curriculum that helps children to develop the skills they need for the next stages in their learni...ng, such as starting school. Children show enthusiasm to join in with experiences and persevere to develop new skills.

Leaders and managers support staff to embed their curriculum, which is based on building secure foundations for future learning. Staff demonstrate clear knowledge of children's termly outcomes and focus their teaching to support them to make good progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) benefit from targeted support plans.

This helps to minimise gaps in learning, where possible, and ensures that all children receive high standards of care and learning. Partnership working with other professionals is very positive. They leave feedback for the nursery and say that time spent with families during visits had a 'powerful and positive impact'.

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

Staff provide children with a balance of child-led and adult-initiated activities throughout the day. They are skilled at following children's lead and teaching them through their play. For instance, older children show an interest in emergency vehicles and play imaginatively with the train.

Staff provide factual information about people who help us and teach children about other professionals.Children make good progress across every area of their learning. Staff provide challenges and build on children's existing skills.

For example, they support babies to develop strong physical skills and practise walking around the garden, adding challenges with steps. Older children demonstrate excellent small-muscle skills as they use scissors effortlessly to cut out strips of coloured paper.Overall, staff help children to develop good communication and language skills.

They model new words to children in the garden during a bug search and teach them about the moss and where it grows. Older children show enjoyment in stories and staff encourage conversations about what might happen and what they can see. However, on occasion, staff speak too quickly and use complex language with younger children.

The provision for children with SEND is very positive. The leadership team has extensive knowledge of how to help staff support children and ensures they receive specific training to meet their needs. All children are welcomed and included in the nursery.

The provider goes above and beyond to support families and works alongside all professionals involved with children.Staff promote children's good health and help them to be aware of their own safety. For instance, young children wait for staff to help them climb the steps.

Children benefit from access to fresh drinking water throughout the day and enjoy the healthy meals that are cooked on site each day. Staff ensure that children are regularly checked as they sleep. This helps to keep them safe.

Mathematics is a strength of the curriculum. Staff naturally use and model mathematical language with children as they play. For example, young children count the apples that fall from the tree.

Staff talk to them about how many they need, and they count the children in the group. Older children skilfully count the spots on the ladybirds and recognise numerals. Children are keen to solve problems and show an interest in how things work, such as electronic devices.

However, staff have not yet considered how to enhance this part of their curriculum.Staff benefit from the support of the strong leadership team. They have regular supervisions and have access to a wide range of professional development opportunities.

For instance, they have received training to help them understand children's behaviours and on how to implement strategies to support children who are biting. This has been highly effective and minimised accidents and incidents.Partnerships with parents are very positive.

The leadership and staff team have worked hard to develop positive relationships with parents and provide detailed information about the curriculum and the things children are learning. This helps parents to feel included. Parents say they are 'incredibly impressed' and that 'staff demonstrate empathy and a genuine desire to be inclusive.'



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: nenhance staff's knowledge and understanding of how to promote young children's communication and language development even further consider ways to build on children's interest in information and communication technology, so they can explore how things work and learn how to use them safely.