Lovacott Nursery

Inspection of Lovacott Nursery Lovacott Nursery, Village Hall Annexe, Lovacott, Newton Tracey, Barnstaple EX31 3QH

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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 Good

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The provision is good

Children are settled and happy in the welcoming environment created by the caring staff team. They confidently enter the nursery, keen to explore the interesting activities on offer and meet up with their friends.

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The provision is good

Children behave very well. They show increasing self-esteem as staff recognise and celebrate each achievement, no matter how small. Younger children beam when staff praise their independent eating skills, while older children revel in giving staff 'high fives' when they successfully solve problems.

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The provision is good

Children benefit from a carefully planned curriculum, with a strong and successfully delivered focus on speaking and listening. They confidently learn signs as part of early communication skills and delight in rich music and singing sessions. Children develop a wide vocabulary, which they use with increasing skill to share their thoughts and ideas. Staff continually extend this. They carefully plan and introduce new words from the 'word wall', and model language skills appropriate to each child's stage of development.

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The provision is good

Children become highly involved in their play because staff skilfully enable children to be independent while providing considered support to extend learning experiences. Children are making good progress in all areas of learning.

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need to do better?

n Passionate leaders create a clear vision for high-quality learning experiences for all children. With carefully matched support, the team work well together to meet individual children's needs. n Training is carefully targeted to help staff build their knowledge and to consistently improve the quality of teaching. Following training on mathematical development, staff skilfully weave opportunities for children to count and solve simple problems into daily activities. With staff support, younger children are beginning to count the number of spoons of flour they need to make play dough while older children successfully work out how many more toes they have than a dinosaur. n Staff provide a balanced curriculum that covers all areas of learning and successfully incorporates children's individual interests. Careful sequencing of the individual aspirations set out for each child enables all children to build on

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need to do better?

what they already know and to develop new skills. Children are well prepared for the next steps in their learning. n Most of the time, staff work well alongside children to maximise learning experiences. They ask open-ended questions and then give children plenty of time to think and work out the answers. They remind children of prior

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need to do better?

23 November 2022 experiences and encourage them to draw on this knowledge to help them work through current problems. For example, when children excitedly make predictions about which items will float or sink, staff remind them of previous similar experiences. With this support, children competently summarise that heavy items sink and lighter items float. n Children show good levels of concentration as they join in fun and exciting group activities, such as music sessions and story time. However, group times do not always fully meet the needs of the youngest children. For example, some story time discussions are too challenging for the youngest children to fully understand and join in. n Children benefit from the clear focus on developing healthy lifestyles. They enjoy a wide range of fruit and healthy drinks for snack time. They learn about the importance of exercise and the effect it has on their body, while taking part in

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need to do better?

exercise sessions and 'penalty shoot outs' in the garden. n Staff successfully support children to learn to manage their own behaviour. They use stories and activities to identify and talk about feelings, which supports children to begin to use and understand the language of emotions. Children grow in confidence as staff recognise their kind behaviours and praise their actions. Children learn to share and take turns from a very young age. n Very strong partnerships are in place with parents and the local school. Both school staff and parents speak highly of the nursery team and the children's experience of nursery. The consistent sharing of information between all parties results in high levels of continuity in children's care and ongoing education.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff place children's well-being and safety at the centre of their practice. Daily checks, risk assessments and careful systems for monitoring children between indoor and outdoor environments, create safe spaces for children to thrive. Staff at all levels have a clear knowledge of the signs and symptoms that may mean children are at risk of harm. They have a secure understanding of the procedures to follow to record and report any concerns without delay. Children learn how to keep themselves safe with gentle reminders from staff, such as keeping all four legs of the chair on the floor to prevent children from falling off.

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should:

n continue to monitor and work with the staff team so that all staff members consistently maximise learning opportunities n adapt group activities to enable all children, particularly the youngest to join in and contribute.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY457707 Local authority Devon Inspection number 10236056 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Registers

Early Years Register, Compulsory Childcare Register, Voluntary Childcare Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 30 Number of children on roll 56 Name of registered person Spencer, Frances Clare

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reference number

Telephone number 01271858801 Date of previous inspection 12 December 2016

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Information about this early years setting

Lovacott Nursery is a privately owned setting, which registered in 2013. It operates within the village of Lovacott, near Torrington, in Devon. The nursery is open each weekday from 7.45am to 5.30pm. The nursery receives early education funding for children aged three and four years. The nursery employs seven members of staff to work with the children. Of these, one holds an appropriate childcare qualification at level 6 and three hold qualifications at level 3. The provider has qualified teacher status.

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Inspection activities

n This was the first routine inspection the provider received since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The inspector discussed the impact of the pandemic with the provider and has taken this into account in their evaluation of the provider. n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about their curriculum and what they want their children to learn. n Staff spoke to the inspector during the inspection. n The inspector observed the quality of education being provided, indoors and outdoors and assessed the impact that this was having on children's learning. n The manager and the inspector carried out a joint observation during group time. n Parents shared their views of the setting with the inspector.

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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

23 November 2022 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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