Little Larks Day Nursery

Inspection of Little Larks Day Nursery Low Green, Nowton, Bury St Edmunds IP29 5ND

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Overall effectiveness Good

The quality of education Good Behaviour and attitudes Good Personal development Good Leadership and management Good Overall effectiveness at previous inspection Requires improvement

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The provision is good

Leaders and staff provide a welcoming and nurturing environment where all children flourish. Children have a positive attitude to learning. They are eager to explore, investigate and find things out. Children show high levels of emotional well-being, are self-assured and develop good social skills. They show they feel safe. Children respond positively to adults and listen to instruction well. They show high levels of control and cooperate well with each other.

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The provision is good

The curriculum incorporates a forest school outdoor educational experience, where children explore woodland on a regular basis. Staff plan interesting experiences to move children forward in their learning, and use existing experiences to help them acquire new knowledge. For example, children use lard and bird seed to make pine cone bird feeders for their 'regular robin' and other types of birds that visit the garden. This helps them to learn about the natural environment.

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The provision is good

Children behave well. They learn to take turns, play cooperatively and manage their emotions. Staff work well as a committed and enthusiastic team. They have high expectations for every child. Staff work extremely effectively with parents and other professionals to ensure that any child who needs additional help quickly receives the support they need to enable them to progress.

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need to do better?

n Since the last inspection, leaders and staff have implemented a new approach to planning children's experiences, to ensure that the individual needs of all children are met well to narrow any gaps in learning. Leaders and staff identify strengths and areas needing development, and have plans in place to address them to further improve children's learning. n Children form secure attachments to staff. A well-established key-person system helps to promote children's emotional well-being. When children first start attending, staff meet with parents to find out about their child's unique characteristics, such as what they enjoy. This enables staff to plan and provide activities and learning experiences based on children's interests. For instance, older children pretend to make tea with role-play food sets, and babies explore making marks with paint using their hands to print on paper. n Staff provide children with activities throughout the nursery to teach them early

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need to do better?

literacy skills. For example, children enjoy singing songs and joining in with stories. Staff model language well and introduce new vocabulary to children appropriately, checking their understanding before moving on. For example, they encourage children to recognise letters of the alphabet and the sounds they represent. n Staff have a sound knowledge of how children learn. They make regular

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need to do better?

4 December 2019 assessments of what children know and can do. Staff use this information to plan interesting experiences for children. On occasions, staff do not consistently provide children with challenge in their learning to further enhance their thinking skills. n Children adopt good hygiene practices as they follow daily routines, and their independence is promoted well. For example, children wash their hands before snack time, and are encouraged to put on their own boots before they go outside. n There is a very positive atmosphere across the nursery. Children form good relationships with staff and their peers. Staff are caring and nurturing to the children and this is reflected by the children being kind to each other. As a result, staff and children have fun and enjoy the activities together. n Partnerships with parents are strong. The nursery provider offers a good range of initiatives to engage, support and build on parents' interests in their children's

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need to do better?

development. For instance, the nursery newsletter includes ideas for play activities to encourage parents to support their children's learning at home. n The nursery manager monitors staff performance and training needs to ensure all staff continue to develop their practice. There are plans to increase the opportunities for staff professional development, such as watching each other teach, to help them continually improve their skills. However, these plans are in the early stages and need to be embedded further to achieve the full impact on children's learning.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Leaders have a good knowledge of how to support children's welfare. They follow safe recruitment and vetting procedures, to ensure staff working with children are suitable. Staff have a robust understanding of safeguarding and child protection procedures. Staff know what to do and who to inform should they have any concerns about a child in their care. They supervise children well and ensure any possible risks to children are effectively minimised or removed. Staff keep their knowledge up to date by accessing regular training.

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should:

n build on opportunities to promote challenge in children's play to extend their thinking skills and support their learning even further n enhance arrangements to support staff to raise their teaching skills to the highest level.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY545741 Local authority Suffolk Inspection number 10101225 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register Day care type Full day care Age range of children 0 to 4 Total number of places 42 Number of children on roll 71 Name of registered person Little Larks Day Nursery Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 07949685262 Date of previous inspection 12 March 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Little Larks Day Nursery registered in 2017. The setting employs 10 members of childcare staff. Of these, all hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 2 to 6. The setting opens from Monday to Friday for 51 weeks of the year. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The setting provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector had a tour of the nursery with the manager to understand how the early years provision and children's experiences are organised. n The inspector spoke to children. She observed the quality of teaching during activities, indoors and outdoors, and assessed the impact this has on children's learning. n A joint observation was carried out and evaluated by the inspector and the nursery manager. n The inspector asked the staff questions throughout the inspection to establish how they assess and plan for children's learning. She sampled documents, including evidence of children's assessments, staff supervision and training. n The inspector took account of the views of parents spoken to during the inspection and reviewed parents' written comments.

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Inspection activities

We carried out this inspection 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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Inspection activities

4 December 2019 regulates and inspects to 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 and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, 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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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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Inspection activities

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