Rising Stars Pre School & Nursery

Highlights from Latest Inspection

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The provision is good

Children and babies are happy and relaxed in the welcoming and exceptionally well-resourced environment. They show enjoyment and become absorbed in their learning as they play with resources that spark their interest and curiosity. For example, children fill pots and containers with compost.

They talk together and agree how much compost they need and which flowers to plant, showing their understanding of the natural world. Children know that they are valued and their individual needs will be met. For example, when babies are tired, staff pick them up and cuddle them.

Babies nestle in, secure in staff's arms before they... go to sleep. Each child has a family photo album. Staff and children talk together about the photos.

This further supports children's emotional well-being and feelings of being valued and cherished. Children develop physical skills through a range of stimulating experiences. For example, younger children actively explore equipment in the outdoor area.

They delight in their achievements as they walk across a raised plank of wood. Babies show excellent levels of determination as they climb. They work out to hold on with their arms before they lift their legs.

The nursery is attached to a gymnastic club, and many older children take part in organised classes. Children show high levels of confidence as they run, jump and balance to complete an obstacle course.Daily routines have been adapted in light of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic.

For example, drop-off and collection arrangements have changed so that parents no longer enter the nursery. Parents comment on how much more independent children are at entering the nursery since these changes have been in place.

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

Children's behaviour is very good.

They show high levels of respect for each other and towards adults. Children automatically say 'please' and 'thank you'. Older children willingly let other children enter their already established play and are happy to discuss what they are doing and to share resources.

Staff capably support children's developing communication and language skills. They speak clearly, give children time to respond, and introduce new words into children's vocabulary. For example, when children talk about elephants being 'big', staff say they are 'huge' and 'ginormous'.

This helps to increase children's understanding that different words can have the same meaning.Staff foster children's love of books. Children bring books to staff and these are read with enthusiasm and skill.

Staff use different tones of voice, give children time to listen to what has been said, and encourage children to look at the pictures and ask questions. Babies independently select books and confidently turn the pages and pretend to read to themselves.Staff help to develop children's independence and self-care skills.

For example, staff talk to younger children about putting soap and water on their hands and say, 'Rub, rub, rub to make bubbles.' Staff encourage children to look at their hands to make sure that they are dry. This teaches children how to keep themselves healthy.

Staff nurture children's skills of independence and determination. For example, babies know what it is they want to play with and recognise it is out of reach. Staff encourage newly mobile babies to crawl to the toy.

They tell babies, 'You can do it, nearly there.' Babies delight in the praise given when they achieve their goal.Staff encourage diversity and children's understanding of other cultures well.

Children who speak English as an additional language are encouraged to use their home language in the nursery. This enables other children to learn new words and phrases in suitable ways for their ages.When the nursery was closed, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, staff made sure that they kept in touch with children and their families.

They made regular calls to share ideas with parents to extend their child's learning at home. This helped children to continue to develop and provided a smooth transition to settle them back into the setting.Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities very well.

They work in close partnership with a wide range of other professionals to ensure that children get the support they need.The use of mathematical language is not consistent across the nursery. This means that children are not supported to develop a good depth of understanding of mathematics, particularly of numbers and counting.

Robust procedures are in place to support children when they are transitioning into another room. Children visit their new rooms at different times of the day to familiarise themselves with the new environment and routines. Key information about the individual child is shared before the visits.

Key persons discuss children's interests and next steps for learning. Consequently, children settle well.

Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

The manager and staff are knowledgeable about child protection issues. They have a secure understanding of the correct procedure to follow if they have concerns about a child. Staff have a good understanding of wider safeguarding issues.

The manager has robust recruitment and vetting procedures in place. She uses staff's recruitment, induction and ongoing supervision sessions to make sure that all staff are suitable to work with children.

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 implement the curriculum for mathematics more effectively and enable children to build further on their skills.