Little Apples Day Nursery

Little Apples Day Nursery Cunningham House, Christowe Lane, CHELTENHAM, Gloucestershire, GL53 7BY

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Inspection date

Previous inspection date 10 April 2018 16 July 2015

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This inspection: Good 2

Effectiveness of the leadership and management Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Quality of teaching, learning and assessment Good 2

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This inspection: Good 2

Personal development, behaviour and welfare Good 2

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This provision is good

 Managers are knowledgeable about their roles. Staff implement a range of records and policies effectively. This helps to promote children's safety, welfare and learning.  Staff are caring and nurturing. They successfully implement the nursery's settling-in processes when children first start and transition between rooms. Children build positive bonds with staff and quickly settle in their care. They are happy and content.  The environment is colourful, bright and well organised. Staff encourage appropriate levels of independence from an early age. Children are motivated to play and explore.  Staff make sound use of observational assessments to identify and promote the key next steps in children's learning. All children make good progress.  The special educational needs coordinator ensures that children who have special educational needs and/or disabilities benefit from targeted support to meet their needs.

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This provision is good

 Partnerships with parents, professionals and other providers are strong. Staff share a two-way flow of information about children's care and learning. This helps foster continuity in their care.

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It is not yet outstanding because:

 Managers do not focus as sharply as possible on developing teaching throughout the nursery to extend staff's professional development and to disseminate outstanding practice.  Managers do not make excellent use of information obtained from monitoring children's progress to promote the attainment of different groups of children at the highest level.

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

To further improve the quality of the early years provision the provider should:

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What the setting needs to do to improve further

 extend staff's professional development and sharply focus on developing teaching to the highest level  enhance monitoring processes further and make excellent use of the information obtained from reviewing children's progress to help promote the attainment of different groups of children at the highest level.

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Inspection activities

 The inspector observed the quality of teaching during activities indoors and outside. She assessed the impact this has on children's learning.  The inspector completed a joint observation with the deputy manager of the nursery.  The inspector spoke to staff and held a meeting with the nursery management team.  The inspector looked at relevant documentation and checked evidence of the suitability of staff working in the nursery.  The inspector spoke to children and parents during the inspection and took account of their views.

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Effectiveness of the leadership and management is good

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective. The environment is clean, safe and secure, indoors and outside. Staff conduct daily visual risk assessment checks, which helps to minimise any fresh dangers or potential hazards. Managers and staff know how to manage different types of child protection issues and understand the importance of reporting concerns in a timely way. Managers supervise staff well and ensure they benefit regularly from some training opportunities to enhance their skills, such as safeguarding and first aid. This has a particularly positive impact on care practices. Self-evaluation is continually developing. Managers are ambitious and set clear targets for development. This helps them achieve and maintain at least good standards.

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Quality of teaching, learning and assessment is good

Staff know children well and have good expectations of what they can achieve. The curriculum is broad and teaching is good. Staff provide children with plenty of age- appropriate activities to promote different aspects of their learning. For example, babies delight in different sensory experiences, such as playing with sand, musical instruments or shaving foam. This helps to extend their exploratory impulses. Toddlers investigate water and keenly go on hunts for insects using magnifying glasses in the garden. This helps to extend their understanding of the world. Children have fun and enjoy attending. They all progress well from where they started.

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Personal development, behaviour and welfare are good

Staff promote children's well-being. They advocate healthy lifestyles and encourage children to eat well, adopt cleanliness regimes and take exercise. Children delight in outdoor play. For example, babies access low-level climbing equipment, toddlers enjoy a simple obstacle course, and pre-school children benefit from the challenges of a tyre or rope swing. This helps to strengthen their skills in moving in different ways. Staff welcome all children and are very inclusive. They find out about children's family lives and ethnic backgrounds. Staff help children learn about their differences through a range of activities, including inviting parents in to share their expertise. Staff involve children in setting the nursery rules and encourage them to talk about their feelings. Children learn to be polite, mindful of others and kind to their peers.

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Outcomes for children are good

Children are becoming successful learners equipped with all the key skills they need to move on to school. For example, children are developing strong communication and language skills. They express their wants, thoughts and needs in different ways. They particularly enjoy familiar rhymes, songs and stories. Pre-school children are developing very strong mathematical and literacy skills. For example, they enjoy experimenting with mark making using chalks, and they can competently use magnetic letters to spell out their names. They enjoy playing colour-matching games and can acknowledge who is winning through comparing quantities.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY423938 Local authority Gloucestershire Inspection number 1131207 Type of provision Full-time provision Day care type Childcare - Non-Domestic Registers Early Years Register Age range of children 0 - 4 Total number of places 75 Number of children on roll 111 Name of registered person Gloucestershire NHS Foundation Trust

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reference number

Date of previous inspection 16 July 2015 Telephone number 0300 422 2260

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reference number

Little Apples Day Nursery registered in 2011. The nursery employs 33 members of childcare staff. Of these, 23 hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 and above. The nursery manager holds early years professional status. The nursery operates all year around. Sessions are available on Monday to Friday from 7am until 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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reference number

This inspection was carried out by Ofsted under sections 49 and 50 of the Childcare Act 2006 on the quality and standards of provision that is registered on the Early Years Register. The registered person must ensure that this provision complies with the statutory framework for children’s learning, development and care, known as the early years foundation stage.

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reference number

procedures set out in the guidance ‘Complaints procedure: raising concerns and making complaints about Ofsted’, which is available from Ofsted’s website: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted. If you would like Ofsted to send you a copy of the guidance, please telephone 0300 123 4234, or email enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk. achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children's social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, work-based learning and skills training, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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reference number

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reference number

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reference number

T: 0300 123 4234 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ofsted

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