Your Co-Op Little Pioneers Nursery and Pre-School, Stonehouse Farm

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create an interesting and welcoming environment. Children enter the nursery happily and are greeted warmly by staff.

Attractively displayed resources and activities capture children's attention. As a result, children separate well from parents and settle quickly into their play. Staff place great importance on children's well-being.

They spend time getting to know the children and build close relationships. Children show through their interactions that they feel safe and secure in nursery. Staff support children to learn and talk about their feelings and emotions.

Children pull faces to reflect feelings ...of anger or sadness and giggle loudly when they watch each other pull silly faces. Staff encourage children to share and take turns as they play, and they discuss the importance of being kind to one another. This helps children to understand and manage their behaviours.

Staff plan a varied and interesting curriculum that supports children's development across all areas of learning. For example, older children enjoy making marks and writing the letters that form their names. They recognise when their names begin with the same letter.

Younger children explore with dough. They mould and manipulate it and use rolling pins to flatten it. Staff encourage children to talk about how it feels.

Children add flour and explore the feeling as they squeeze it, making it fall through their fingers. This supports children to build on their vocabulary and develop their physical skills. Staff support children to develop independence.

For example, children help themselves to their drinks throughout the day. They use serving spoons to help themselves to cheesy pasta. Staff build on children's awareness, through the use of fact sheets, of where foods come from and how vegetables grow.

Children explain that carrots grow underground, where they are covered in mud, and that they are good for their bodies.

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

Managers and staff have made significant improvements since the last inspection. The nursery has also undergone a refurbishment, and the garden is being completely overhauled.

Rigorous checks and procedures have been implemented through this process to ensure that children remain safe. Managers and staff keep parents and children up to date about the changes. Parents and children are excited about the changes.

Children cannot wait to be able to access the new climbing apparatus and slides.Robust recruitment and selection procedures are in place. Managers take effective steps to ensure that staff remain suitable for their role.

Regular supervisions enable managers and staff to identify training opportunities to enhance their practice and skills. This means that staff are continually building their knowledge and skills, which positively impacts on children's learning and development. Staff well-being is given high priority.

Managers recognise and praise staff's individual skills and abilities.Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well. Staff use their observations and assessments to identify any gaps in children's learning and development.

They work closely with parents to seek additional support for their children so that they make the best progress. Staff use simple sign language and pictorial cards to enable children with SEND to communicate their needs and emotions. They share these cards with parents so they can continue this at home.

Children's health and well-being are supported well. They enjoy freshly prepared, nutritious meals, which meet their individual dietary needs. Children follow clear hygiene routines, and staff support children as they master the art of wiping their noses.

Children's safety is paramount, and effective routines ensure that children who are sleeping remain safe.Children benefit from plenty of time outside being active. Older children complete pictorial risk assessments before going outside to ensure all areas are safe to use.

Children enjoy using wheeled toys and learn to manoeuvre around objects and their peers confidently. They enjoy the space to run around. This supports children to develop their large-muscle skills.

Children show positive attitudes to learning and are curious and inquisitive as they join activities. They study maps, identifying flamingos and dinosaurs, which they then go in search of around the garden. Older children listen to the sounds they can hear in the garden.

They identify different bird songs and explore the garden, trying to see the birds in the trees. However, although resources are available, such as binoculars, to help children to find the birds, children are not shown how to use them correctly, to enable them to gain the most from the activity. This means that, occasionally, some children lose focus.

Partnerships with parents are strong, and parents are extremely happy with the care and learning provided for their children. They enjoy hearing about their child's day when they collect their child and value the information shared with them via an online application. Parents recognise the work the staff do and how much their children enjoy coming to nursery.

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: support children to better understand and use resources to enhance their learning even more.