Stepping Stone Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Management and staff have high expectations for all children to be happy, settled and for them to make good progress in their development. Children arrive and settle quickly and are happy when their parents leave.

They demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They are not fazed by visitors and happily engage them in their play ideas. They gain confidence through everyday routines at the setting.

This supports children when they transition to their next stage of learning. Children improve their hand-to-eye coordination and strengthen the small muscles in their hands. They engage in activities such as drawing around s...hapes, mark making with paint and different-sized paintbrushes, and exploring different textures.

For instance, toddlers explore different textures in the sensory trays, such as rice and sand. They collect the sand and rice using spoons to fill their containers. Additionally, they learn important mathematical language, such as 'heavy', 'light', 'empty' and 'full'.

Staff support children to develop an understanding of number through regular counting of objects. This promotes children's understanding of important mathematical concepts. Children behave well and develop good friendships with each other.

They have a good understanding of the expectations for their behaviour and follow the rules, such as turn taking and sharing resources. They eagerly follow instructions and help one another to tidy away the resources before they move on to the next activity.

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

The curriculum covers all areas of learning.

All staff receive regular supervision, and they are provided with regular training, mentoring and coaching. However, staff who are new at the setting would benefit from more highly focused training. This training would help them to understand the curriculum intentions for all children and further develop their teaching skills.

Staff collect information from parents when their child first starts to attend, to help them plan a curriculum that embeds their child's likes and interests. This information also ensures that the dietary, cultural and medical needs of children are met. All children make good progress from their starting points.

Children's independence skills are very well supported. Older children manage their own toileting needs and know to wash and dry their hands. Staff encourage children to put on their coats and attempt fasteners.

They offer children an abundance of praise for their efforts, which builds on their confidence in their own abilities.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff build strong relationships with other professionals and parents and work closely with them to put extra support in place for children with SEND, to improve their learning.

The nursery environment is bright, clean, warm and inviting. Overall, children enjoy activities and experiences that are new and exciting. They are motivated and curious to learn.

However, staff have yet to consider ways to enable children to extend their imaginative and creative skills through role play. For instance, additional resources to fully support children's imaginary play, which captivate and challenge their interests further, are few.Staff support communication and language effectively.

Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well. For instance, staff use pictorial cards so that all children can follow the routine of the day and know what comes next. Staff make good use of singing and nursery rhymes to widen children's vocabulary.

Children demonstrate good listening skills and follow instructions well. They delight in joining in with action songs and taking part in circle time.Parents speak very highly of the staff and the relationships they build with families.

They are kept up to date with their child's progress through the online system. They are given suggestions as to how they can support their children at home. Multilingual staff are on hand to support families using their home language.

Staff enhance their understanding of complex documents and signpost them to the relevant support.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.The provider places a strong focus on safeguarding.

All staff have undertaken safeguarding training. Staff demonstrate a good understanding of how to identify potential child protection concerns and confidently share what they will do to safeguard children. They know the procedures to report concerns about the conduct of a colleague and in the event of an allegation against a member of staff.

Robust recruitment and vetting procedures help to ensure staff are suitable to work with children. Staff routinely check all areas of the setting to make sure they are safe for children to use.

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 continue to develop their knowledge and implementation of the curriculum, including their teaching skills nexpand the range of role-play resources to enable all children to explore and develop their own play and ideas.