Little Folks Nursery & Out of School Club

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children happily enter the nursery and easily separate from their parents and carers. Staff are warm and welcoming, and they support children to settle quickly into the routines of the day. Staff gather valuable information about children before they start and, therefore, they know them very well.

This helps children to feel happy, safe and secure in staff's care.Staff plan precisely for their key children. They consider their interests and next steps.

Children delight in exploring and experimenting with different ingredients, such as flour and water. Staff extend children's play by adding different resources and tools.... This helps to ignite children's curiosity and eagerness to learn.

Staff encourage children to use all their senses to explore the mixture they are making. They ask open-ended questions to challenge children's knowledge even further. Consequently, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are making good progress in their learning.

Staff have high expectations for all children. They gently encourage them to listen and follow instructions. Staff support children to share and take turns stirring, as they pretend to make chicken soup in the mud kitchen.

As a result, children respond with kindness and good manners.

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

Leaders have made significant improvements since their last inspection. Strengthening of induction and supervision procedures for all staff, including agency staff, means that they now have secure safeguarding knowledge.

General maintenance and redecoration of the nursery has improved the safety and hygiene of the premises. Staff complete effective risk assessments throughout the day to keep areas free from hazards. New resources and daily outdoor play means that children enjoy building their physical skills on scooters and tricycles.

Leaders design a varied and broad curriculum that has a strong focus on offering children rich experiences, which they might not have tried yet. This helps to provide children with the essential knowledge they need for their future. For example, there are exciting opportunities to get creative and messy and to participate in cooking activities.

These result in children developing a love for learning and engaging in activities for a long period of time.Staff make good use of stories, rhymes and songs to encourage children's language. They sing songs as children wash their hands before mealtimes.

Children cheerfully join in with the words and actions. However, sometimes, when there are more adults present than children, staff do not recognise that they tend to be the ones talking and answering questions. Therefore, children do not always have the opportunity to practise speaking and share their ideas during these times.

Parents speak positively of the nursery and staff. They say their children are happy and have settled quickly with the recent changes in staff. Although leaders identify and plan ways to improve parent partnership working, this is not yet fully embedded into practice.

This means that some parents are unsure of what their children are working on next and how they can support them with their learning at home.Staff encourage children to be independent. They support children to pour their own water from jugs and cut up their food at lunchtime.

Children know to take off their coats and place them on their pegs when they return from outside. They confidently move around the space and choose what they would like to play with next. This is teaching children to take care of themselves and their belongings.

Support for children with SEND is strong. The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) works closely with staff to model ideas and share her expertise. She makes timely referrals to other agencies to get the early and ongoing support children might need.

Child specific targets are regularly set and evaluated by staff. These help to identify and close any gaps in the children's knowledge.Staff feel well supported in their roles and work well as a team.

The new manager is keen to continue to implement changes and improvements within the nursery. She completes regular supervisions with staff and their well-being is a priority. This helps to improve the overall quality of the care and teaching.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders and staff are confident in their roles and responsibilities to safeguard children. Leaders have strengthened induction procedures for all staff.

These include specific safeguarding training for agency staff. They ensure that all staff know who the designated safeguarding lead is and what procedure they should follow if they are concerned about a child's welfare or another member of staff's conduct. Staff understand the importance of acting on concerns in a timely manner.

They know how to make referrals themselves should they need to. This helps to keep children safe from harm.

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 recognise when they can encourage children's communication more frequently so that children can practise speaking and share their ideas share even more information with parents, so they can continue to support their children's learning at home.