Little Pioneers Nursery & Pre-School, Leamington Spa

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children are happy in this nursery.

Staff are attentive to each child's needs and are caring and nurturing towards them. This helps children to feel safe and secure in their care. Children enjoy playing with their peers.

For example, two-year-old children play imaginative games in little alcoves that staff organise for them. They use books to tell each other stories and blankets to cover themselves, and they role play nap time. Children practise their skills and coordination.

They work out how to pour water from long-spouted cans into bottles and explore filling and emptying various sized containers. Children ...happily do things for themselves, for example, putting on their own aprons and hanging them up on pegs when they have finished.Children behave well.

They learn to take turns with their peers, waiting their turn while they play organised games with staff. Children know the behaviours that are expected of them. For example, in pre-school, they quote their golden values of using manners and being kind.

Children are eager to be involved in activities and enjoy learning. They gain the skills and knowledge they need to prepare them for the next stages in their learning.

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

The curriculum is ambitious and clearly sequenced to help children continually build on their learning and make continuous progress.

Staff make good use of observation and assessment information to help them to decide what children need to learn next. Staff provide activities and experiences that ignite children's interests and engage them in learning that builds on what they already know and can do.Staff promote speech and language generally well.

Children enjoy familiar stories read by staff who bring the story to life. Younger children are keen to fill in the gaps that staff leave as they tell the story. However, staff often ask questions that require only one-word responses and, at times, respond for them.

This does not then enable children the opportunities to use their emerging vocabulary and communication skills with time to understand, think about and respond with their own ideas.Children have ample opportunities to exert their energy while developing their physical skills. For example, they increase their ball skills, passing the ball to their peers in a range of ways.

They climb and balance on varied structures, and they enjoy play while using a range of wheeled toys.All children become increasingly independent. For example, babies confidently select the resources that interest them.

They learn to feed themselves with increasing skill while older children perfect their skills and feed themselves with the use of cutlery. Older children manage their personal care needs with increasing competence.Children develop positive friendships with their peers and begin to play cooperatively together.

They lead their own learning and begin to problem solve with little support needed from staff. For example, they arrange chairs and gather resources to play an imaginative game of packing up the car to go on a long journey. Some arrange the food for the trip.

As other children want to join in, staff help to add more chairs, and children continue with their game.Children are keen to help tidy away and know where toys belong. Babies put toys into nearby boxes, and children file their drawings in their drawers.

However, the routines before lunch, particularly for pre-school children, mean that children wait at the table for an extended period of time before they eat. This does not then enable children to remain engaged in purposeful play and learning experiences.Leaders and managers ensure that staff receive the training and support they need to enable them to fulfil their roles effectively.

Staff comment on how well supported they feel and say how much they enjoy working in the nursery. Leaders make use of their self-evaluation and reflect with staff and managers on how to continually enhance the provision for children.Parents speak very highly about the nursery and the staff.

They say they know their children are well cared for. Parents say they are kept well informed about their child's care and learning progress. They comment on how much their children enjoy attending and how well the staff know their children.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.Leaders, managers and staff understand their responsibilities to protect children from harm. They know signs and symptoms that indicate a child may be at risk of abuse.

Staff understand to report their concerns and know how to escalate their concerns if required. This includes in the event of concerns about the conduct of a colleague in their work with children. Procedures for recruitment are robust.

This includes the background checks that must be carried out to ensure the ongoing suitability of staff working in the nursery. Routine checks are made on the premises to ensure that they are safe for children to attend.

What does the setting need to do to improve?

To further improve the quality of the early years provision, the provider should: provide opportunities for children to use their vocabulary and communication skills with the use of more open questions and give time for children to understand, think about and respond with their own ideas review and amend the routines for children before lunch, particularly for the pre-school children, to enable them to remain engaged for longer periods of time in purposeful play and learning experiences.