Step By Step Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children of all ages are excited to arrive at this friendly nursery.

Babies smile and hold out their arms to their nurturing key staff. Older children greet staff and managers enthusiastically before joining their friends and exploring the interesting learning environment staff create. Children of all ages demonstrate high levels of confidence.

They engage extremely well with visitors, chatting to them about their families and engaging them in play. Staff use well planned group sessions to encourage children to develop a sense of pride in their skills and abilities. For example, babies delight at the praise they receiv...e during song and dance sessions.

Older children proudly show off pictures and discuss the adventures they had when they took the class cuddly toy home.Children of all ages develop a love of stories to support their literacy development. Babies explore books with their key staff in the cosy reading area.

They follow the story by selecting puppets of their favourite characters, giggling at the funny voices staff use. Toddlers explore their favourite stories during engaging activities, which staff skilfully plan. For example, they have recently been reading 'The Little Red Hen'.

They recall the characters and discuss what they learned from their actions while baking their own bread to enjoy with soup for tea.

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

Staff use age-appropriate methods to support children's mathematical development. For example, babies use scoops to fill pots up with flour and pasta in a sensory activity.

Toddlers learn about concepts such as shape and size in a farm activity. Staff encourage them to explore which animals will fit into the different barns and enclosures. Pre-school children use various vessels to measure out quantities of water.

They identify numbers on the cylinders and count out how many pipettes it takes to fill them.Children behave well in all areas of the nursery. They are kind to one another and cooperate well in activities.

For example, children independently set up their own florist in the role-play area. They work together to sell flowers to their friends, complimenting each other on the beautiful bouquets they create.Staff are skilled at implementing strategies to support children's understanding of managing risks in their play.

For example, children in the toddler room will be making jam tarts to take home this week. Staff have set up a similar activity using modelling dough to familiarise children with behaviour expectations. Children discuss the importance of washing their hands to minimise the spread of germs.

They learn to identify possible hazards when using sharp implements and ovens.The newly established management team reflect well on all areas of their practice. They seek feedback from parents, staff, and other professionals and use their findings to make well-informed changes.

For example, the nursery is currently developing the outdoor play area. This will enable children to have continuous access to high-quality learning opportunities outside.Parents speak highly of managers and staff.

They discuss the positive impact recent changes in management have had on the nursery and the care it provides. Parents value the high-quality communication they receive about their children's development, both verbal and via an electronic system. They comment on how this enables them to further support children's development at home.

The management team place a sharp focus on staff development and supporting their well-being. They conduct regular appraisals on all staff to identify their aspirations and interests as well as areas for improvement. Staff have access to numerous online and face-to-face training opportunities to keep their knowledge up to date.

However, methods of coaching are not yet sufficient to enable staff to consistently identify gaps in their practice.Staff make good use of assessments to gather up-to-date information about children's development. They have strong knowledge of children's abilities, interests, and future learning goals.

Staff use this comprehensive information to plan age-appropriate activities to support children's progress. However, staff are not consistently observed using this information to support children's learning in sessions of free play.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Management and staff demonstrate robust knowledge of the signs and symptoms that could indicate a child is at risk of harm. They have a clear understanding of the correct process to follow when reporting concerns to the appropriate authority. Staff complete comprehensive, daily risk assessments of the setting to ensure the environment is safe for all children.

The management team have robust recruitment processes in place to ensure all staff are suitable to work with children. Comprehensive training opportunities mean all staff complete first-aid training and confidently explain how they manage emergency situations in the nursery.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: nensure staff consistently use their detailed knowledge of children's next steps to support their learning nenhance methods of coaching to support staff to identify areas for development and raise the quality of their teaching to a consistently high level.