Lime Tree Day Nursery (The Hall)

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are very happy in this busy nursery.

Babies and new starters learn to feel secure in their surroundings as they experience the warm and considered care of the well-qualified staff team. Staff work closely with parents to give children a strong start to their learning and prepare them well for their future education, including starting school. Children develop significant confidence in different situations as staff introduce them to many rich experiences, such as travelling on a bus, singing Christmas songs in the cathedral, and shopping for tools and equipment for baking and other activities.

Children are safe... and secure. Staff help them to learn how to behave well and consider the needs of others. For example, children help to tidy up, set the tables in the dining room, and politely serve and eat their nutritious meals.

Children learn to recognise and manage risks in their play and follow guidance. For instance, they understand the importance of having clean hands during their many baking activities or how to climb stairs safely. Parents are very appreciative of the nursery's family ethos and the high quality of regular information they receive about their children's progress and guidance for children's learning at home.

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

Staff ensure that children make good progress overall through a well-designed curriculum. They set ambitious goals for all children to work towards during their time in the nursery, such as performing a song or rhyme for others, preparing them well for their future learning. However, planning for all aspects of babies and young children's physical development is not fully established.

For instance, opportunities to fully enrich young children's climbing and balancing skills are not always taken.Staff promote children's communication skills well. For example, they carefully plan to introduce children at each age group to a rich and broad vocabulary linked to their own interests and the experiences that staff introduce them to.

They ensure that children are introduced to new words in different contexts and help to make them memorable. For instance, children 'mix', 'stir', 'squash' and 'squeeze' the dough they have made for their Christmas baking and modelling activities.Children's love of books and stories is strongly promoted.

Staff identify a range of songs, rhymes and books that children will experience as they progress through the nursery. This helps children to develop cultural, personal and language experiences. Staff make excellent use of different strategies to make books memorable.

For example, children greatly enjoy acting out the story of 'The Three Little Pigs' as they dash from one outdoor shed to another and tell the big, bad wolf that they will not let him in.Staff's interaction with children is warm and positive. Staff engage with children in their play and set good examples for their learning and behaviour.

However, at times, staff do not fully encourage children to persist with an activity and achieve the very best from their learning.The manager provides incisive leadership in all aspects of the nursery's work. She gives robust support and challenge to enable all staff to contribute to the direction and development of the nursery.

The manager and her senior staff make good use of training and support to enrich the curriculum, such as by developing children's curiosity and problem-solving skills.Staff positively promote children's health and well-being. They work with parents to help children to develop a good understanding of healthy eating and good nutrition.

Children plant and nurture their own vegetables and herbs. Children brush their teeth after enjoying their well-prepared, nutritious meals and learn the importance of good dental health.Staff help children to develop their mathematical skills well.

Children very much enjoy working out how much paper they need to wrap their role-play Christmas present. They count to 20 as they wait for Father Christmas to arrive. They help each other to create their sensory-play hot chocolate with a mix of cocoa and shaving foam, and fill and empty different-sized containers.

Parents very strongly recommend the nursery. They particularly comment on how well prepared their children are for starting school and the progress that they make in their language and personal skills.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The designated safeguarding lead supports staff to ensure that they have an up-to-date knowledge. She makes sure that staff are well trained and that their safeguarding knowledge is frequently checked. Staff have a good understanding of how to care for children and keep them safe.

They know how to record information on children's safety and who to report to. Staff successfully involve children in learning to keep themselves safe indoors and outside.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: strengthen the curriculum for physical development to help to build on the large-muscle development of babies and young children, particularly in relation to outdoor play review ways to help children to persist in their activities and maximise their learning.