Aardvark Preschool & Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Staff create warm and nurturing relationships with children at the nursery. They give children lots of praise and encouragement as they do things for themselves. Children are very happy; they feel excited to greet familiar staff and their friends.

All children show that they feel relaxed and safe. The trusting relationships they build with others help them to become confident learners.Staff consider the interests and needs of all children when planning the play environment.

For example, in the role-play area, staff include foods from all the children's backgrounds and home languages. All children feel at home. They eng...age in high-quality interactions with staff.

Staff introduce challenging new vocabulary to children in play. Children develop fluency as they engage in back-and-forth conversations.Staff teach children the rules and expectations in a way that children understand.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children listen and respond well. Staff create opportunities for children to try new skills every day and to practise existing ones.

Children are motivated learners who enjoy trying new activities. They have positive attitudes to learning and are well prepared for the next stage of their education.

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

Staff create a curriculum that is well sequenced and supports children to build on their knowledge and skills.

Staff adapt activities to make them increasingly challenging over time. They consider the interests and needs of each child so that they all reach their developmental milestones.Staff consider the prior learning experiences of all children.

When the nursery receives funding, staff work with parents to spend this on resources that children may not have access to. All children have opportunities to develop a wide range of skills across the early years curriculum.Managers and staff understand that some children may have gaps in their learning.

They know that the COVID-19 pandemic may have impacted on children's communication skills. They work with expert partners to support children to reach their milestones. This includes delivering specialist teaching to children to develop their listening and attention skills.

All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported.Staff find out what children know and can do. They use this to plan the curriculum for all children.

Staff regularly assess children's knowledge and share this information with parents. All children are engaged in their learning and make good progress.Staff have recently attended training to enhance their teaching of maths.

They develop the environment to give all children access to challenging mathematical activities. Children enjoy counting, identifying numbers, and solving problems. They are confident at using maths in their play and enjoy celebrating their achievements.

Staff speak to children in ways that excite them. They teach children new words in different contexts. Staff know that children need to repeat new language to be able to use it in their play.

Children are confident talkers. They develop the knowledge and skills they need for the next stage of their education.Staff plan opportunities for children to be physically active.

However, on occasion, older children do not have extended opportunities to build on their physical skills. Children do not always gain resilience at the highest levels.Staff respond to children's care needs effectively.

They teach babies sign language to enable them to express their needs. Staff teach toddlers to take themselves to the toilet and wash their hands. Children gain independence skills.

They feel competent as they do things by themselves. Children behave well.Parents report that staff are full of enthusiasm for children's learning.

They say that they give them lots of information about children's next steps. Parents report that children make good progress at nursery and develop confidence and speaking skills. They say that they work with nursery staff to help support children's learning at home.

Managers plan professional development opportunities for staff. However, the impact of training is stronger in some areas of the curriculum than others. Teaching does not always continue to improve over time across all areas of the curriculum.

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: strengthen opportunities for all children to engage in physically active play outdoors to enable them to develop resilience at the highest levels build further professional development opportunities for staff across the curriculum to help their knowledge and skills to develop over time.

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