Oakbridge Little Learners

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy and settled at this nursery. They have strong bonds with the staff, who are kind and caring. This helps them to feel safe and secure in their care.

Children enjoy their time here and have fun becoming absorbed in the wide range of activities, indoors and outdoors. Children are excited and motivated to learn. Babies show curiosity as they press buttons on toys to make sounds and music.

Toddlers enjoy sharing favourite stories with visitors. Pre-school children use their imaginations as they work together to create a 'dinosaur swamp' in the garden. Children's good health is promoted well.

All ...children enjoy spending time outdoors where they benefit from fresh air and exercise. Healthy and nutritious meals and snacks are provided throughout the day. Children's allergies and preferences are fully catered for, and staff have a very good understanding of children's individual dietary needs.

Children behave well. They follow the rules of the setting, such as lining up to go outside to play. All children make good progress in their learning.

They are developing the skills needed to support their future learning, including their eventual move to school.

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

Managers and staff are passionate about providing children with the best possible care and learning experiences. The manager is ambitious and works closely with staff.

She has a good awareness of the strengths within the team and has a clear plan for areas for future development. Staff are well supported through regular team meetings and individual supervision sessions. They benefit from ongoing training to help them keep their knowledge and skills up to date.

The quality of teaching is good. Staff have a good understanding of how children learn and develop. They use their knowledge of children's current interests to plan activities they know children will enjoy.

However, on occasion, the planned next steps in children's learning are not always focused on to help children make even more progress in their learning.Children confidently explore the well-resourced environment, making choices in their play. However, they are not always encouraged to do things for themselves to develop their independence skills further.

For example, staff step in and complete tasks for children that they could do for themselves, such as wiping their noses and putting on aprons for them.Promoting children's communication and language skills is a strength of the nursery. Staff engage children in interesting and meaningful conversations.

Staff add new words and repeat phrases during these interactions. Children enjoy joining in with singing rhymes and songs. They listen intently to well-read stories and enjoy looking at books independently and with their friends.

Staff promote children's mathematical development through various ways. For example, they encourage children to count items as they play and identify different shapes. Staff encourage children to join in with singing number rhymes and songs.

During story sessions, children excitedly count down from five before they pretend to zoom off into space.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those that may need extra support in their learning are supported well. Staff ensure early assessments of children's progress are made to help identify any gaps in learning.

Staff work well with other professionals to ensure children's needs are met.Staff support children to understand the rules of good behaviour. Children learn to share, take turns and be kind to each other.

Staff act as good role models, reminding children of the importance of using good manners.Partnership with parents is effective. Parents spoken to have very positive views about the nursery.

They say their children enjoy attending and that staff have helped them to progress in all areas of their learning. Parents are given daily information about their child's time at the setting. They say that they are always welcomed by staff who they know.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Managers and staff have a good understanding of their roles and responsibilities to keep children safe. Staff supervise children well.

They carry out daily checks of the premises and toys to ensure they are safe to use. The premises are secure to ensure no one can enter the building without the knowledge of staff. Staff have a good understanding of the procedure to follow should they have concerns about children's welfare.

They are confident with who to report any concerns to, both internally and externally to the nursery. They are aware of the importance of ensuring information about children is handled in a way that ensures confidentiality.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: focus more on children's individual next steps in learning to help children make even better progress promote children's independence skills further by allowing them to complete tasks they are capable of doing for themselves.