Smartie Pants Sutton Bridge

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children arrive happy and settle quickly into the nursery. They have warm relationships with staff, who give them cuddles and talk to children as they welcome them in. Babies have a super bond with their key person.

They take comfort from staff, who reassure them when they become unsettled around visitors. Children demonstrate care and caution as they listen and follow the staff's guidance. For instance, children follow staff's requests as they remind children to sit down when eating and explain this is to reduce the potential risk of choking.

Children gain confidence in their physical movements and coordination. Babie...s spend time pulling themselves up to standing and crawling over cushions as they reach for objects that are slightly out of reach. Pre-school children and toddlers confidently and safely negotiate space when they ride on the wheeled toys.

Children have many opportunities to freely explore the resources. Pre-school children show a great interest in matching animal footprints to the correct animal. Babies smile as they press buttons, using early technology skills to create sounds.

Children develop good independence and self-care skills as staff have high expectations of what children can achieve for themselves. For example, when children choose to play outdoors, they put on their own coats and wellington boots with minimal support from staff.

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

The manager and the provider display strong leadership skills.

Together, they provide good support for the staff team, including room meetings, staff meetings and training opportunities. Staff morale is high. This is demonstrated through their nurturing practice.

The management team strive to provide the best outcomes for children and has a very good insight into the needs of the community and families who attend the nursery.Staff have developed a curriculum that helps children to build on what they already know and can do. There is a particular focus across the nursery on developing children's independence and confidence.

These skills prepare them well for future learning within the nursery and eventually starting school.Staff are clear about the learning intentions for their planned activities. For example, staff interact with toddlers and pre-school children as they encourage them to practise new skills when playing with water.

Children learn to use pipettes to carefully extract and transfer water to another container. This helps to develop their small-muscle skills.Overall, staff help children to gain good communication and language skills.

They narrate what children are doing as they play alongside them. Staff speak clearly and model language which children copy, introducing new words, such as 'squeeze'. However, occasionally, staff do not use language to help children build on what they already know and to express their own ideas.

Children's literacy skills and a love of books is developing well. Staff read books to children and stop at the end of a sentence for the children to fill in the missing words. This shows that children are knowing more and remembering more.

The support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities is good. This is because the manager and staff quickly identify potential gaps in a child's development. They then work well with parents and other professionals to make referrals and set targets to prevent those children from falling behind.

Staff focus on supporting children's personal development. They tailor settling-in sessions to meet children's individual needs. These sessions are offered to children when they first start at the nursery, and again for children as they prepare to transition to other rooms in the nursery.

Staff follow children's medical and dietary requirements well. They also recognise and respond well when children become tired.Staff and children sit together at lunchtime.

This is a good time for social interactions and to encourage conversations. This is a strong focus for the nursery as the provider acknowledges families are often busy and hurried at mealtimes.Staff offer constant specific praise and encouragement, which supports children's self-esteem.

For example, staff praise children for their kind acts, such as helping a friend and sharing their toys. As a result, the nursery is a happy place for children to play and explore.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff know the signs and symptoms of abuse and to whom to report any concerns regarding children or staff. The provider and the manager ensure that regular safeguarding training takes place, to keep staff's knowledge up to date. There is a strong recruitment process and induction procedure in place to ensure that staff are suitable to work with children.

The provider carries out suitability checks, such as Disclosure and Barring Service checks, to ensure that only suitable staff are employed. Staff are vigilant and carry out regular risk assessments to keep children safe.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: support staff to develop their questioning to offer children more opportunities to express their own ideas.

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