First Little Steps Day Nursery Ltd

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are welcomed to the nursery by warm, friendly staff. Children, including those who have recently started, separate from their carers with ease.

They are encouraged to independently hang up belongings. Staff have established close relationships with children, who benefit from cuddles and attentive interactions. This supports them to develop feelings of safety and security.

Toddlers and pre-school children showcase their developing independence. They choose activities and cut their own fruit using knives at snack time. They have developed a good understanding of self-care, while toileting and washing their hands....

Children are physically active every day, accessing the well-equipped garden and climbing walls, riding bikes and constructing with large blocks. They join 'funky finger' activities, which help them develop strength for pre-writing. Staff encourage children to use words from their home languages, and celebrate these during circle time.

Children's early language is particularly supported well. Staff model listening, they repeat and pronounce words correctly for children. They use visual prompts and sign language to support all children.

Staff swiftly identify children who may have an additional need. They put support in place to ensure these children make good progress.

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

The key-person system is effective.

All staff have built strong relationships with children. The nursery gathers information about children and their families when they start. This helps build on their interests and support their next steps.

Children settle at their own pace; staff are caring towards children and children seek them out to share their interests. Children are encouraged to follow rules within the nursery, such as tidying up. This helps them to learn about caring for their environment.

The curriculum has a holistic approach, is well designed and builds on the interests of the children that attend. Children are encouraged to be creative through role play and art activities, helping them to develop a sense of belonging. Children of all ages mix together as they play, where older children model expected behaviour.

However, there are occasions where the environment becomes less organised, leading to some inconsistency in how well children are engaged. There are opportunities to develop early mathematical skills throughout the environment. Older children count in order as they build towers and use language around quantity as they fill and empty containers.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported, overall. Staff are advocates for children with SEND, maintaining excellent links with the local children's centre. Staff work cohesively with families and professionals to ensure early support is put in place.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds are supported well, additional funding is thoughtfully used to help them acquire essential skills to progress, such as good communication skills.Leadership at the nursery is strong, leaders spend a significant time monitoring practice and ensuring children's individual needs are met. They complete regular supervisions and check-ins with staff.

They then use this to support good continuing professional development and well-being. However, some staff would benefit from further training to support children with additional needs. Leaders work closely with the local authority to support development at the nursery, for example working with specialist teachers and applying for grants to enhance their sensory space.

Parent partnerships are strong. Parents comment on how caring and friendly staff are, and how quickly their children are settling at the nursery. Leaders ensure they keep parents informed about children's progress, meeting regularly with them and sharing activities to extend learning further.

They work hard to sign post parents to additional support at the local family hub, and provide parents with information on how to use the internet safely. They educate children and their families about healthy meal and lifestyle choices, which supports children to have the best start in life.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

Staff complete regular risk assessments on the environment and head count children regularly. There is sufficient knowledge of reporting procedures for any concerns about a child or an adult. Alongside knowledge of how to identify concerns for other areas, such as domestic violence and abuse linked to faith or belief.

Leaders ensure all staff keep their paediatric first-aid training up to date. They keep abreast of local safeguarding issues and have good systems for checking the ongoing suitability of staff.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: continue to strengthen training opportunities, so that staff can support children with additional needs even further review the organisation of the learning environment to ensure children of all ages remain highly engaged in activities.