Little Me Day Nursery

Inspection of Little Me Day Nursery The Coach House, Turners Drive, Thatcham RG19 4QB

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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 happy and settled. Those who need extra support on arrival receive reassurance, which helps them to settle. Babies benefit from warm, responsive care from staff who know their needs securely. Older children build positive relationships with staff. They engage in discussions with staff, who provide appropriate responses to help build on children's language skills.

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The provision is good

Children enjoy a good variety of activities and learning experiences. Babies explore sensory materials, such as 'gloop', with enthusiasm. Toddlers develop their concentration, for example when exploring shapes or playing a matching game. Pre-school children delight at finding cobwebs using magnifying glasses and enthusiastically talk about what they have found. Overall, the environment, activities and staff interactions support children's learning consistently. Staff understand their key children's individual needs and how to support their learning securely. They use additional funding carefully, for example by buying resources to offer children new experiences.

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The provision is good

Children gain skills for the future. Most children understand the behaviour expectations and behave well. For example, pre-school children line up sensibly to scrape their plates after lunch and then carry their fruit back to their table to eat. Staff praise children regularly, which promotes their confidence. Pre-school children learn about cooperation and being fair, such as when they vote to make a group decision. Children develop good independence generally. For instance, babies gain skills to independently feed themselves with a spoon and toddlers learn to take off their coats.

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need to do better?

n The manager is reflective and identifies areas to improve. Staff feel well supported in their roles and the manager helps them to develop their practice and skills. This includes supervision meetings to mutually discuss their work, observations of their practice and feedback with targets. This supports staff's professional development well, along with relevant training. n Children play and learn in a clean and well-maintained environment. There are plenty of resources and interesting activities to capture children's interest in learning. Sometimes, the noise level rises in the older children's rooms to a high level. This means the environment is not always consistently calm to support some children's behaviour, which at times deteriorates during busy times of the day. In addition, this does not always promote an atmosphere which helps children to fully focus during some activities. n Staff guide children's behaviour appropriately. They remind children about the

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need to do better?

expectations, such as toddlers using 'kind hands' with others when playing with

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need to do better?

29 March 2023 toys. Staff work with parents when children show challenging behaviour to promote a consistent approach to this at home and at nursery. They consider the support children may need well, such as a dedicated space to spend time in when they feel overwhelmed. Staff ensure parents are informed of any significant incidents relating to children's behaviours. n Staff monitor children's development closely. They use assessment effectively to identify any gaps in children's progress. When needed, staff implement individual educational plans to help close gaps in learning. This promotes children's good progress from their starting points. However, at times, staff do not implement the curriculum intentions as well as possible. This does not fully challenge children's learning and development to promote further progress. For example, sometimes staff do not fully consider how to extend younger children's

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need to do better?

developing independence. n Children from a young age begin to make their own choices. For instance, babies enjoy choosing a toy that represents a song to sing. The babies have fun, moving to the rhythm. Older babies show they know the actions and are learning the words. Staff enthusiastically join in, responding to babies with eye contact and positive responses, such as facial expressions. This provides a secure foundation to support children's positive relationships and their communication and language development from an early age. n Partnerships with parents and carers are good. They state there is effective communication, saying they are well informed about children's days and progress. Parents comment positively about the settling-in arrangements and the progress their children make. Overall, the feedback from parents is very positive. On occasion, when needed, the manager ensures that she follows and

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need to do better?

meets expected requirements when responding to any concerns raised. Parents also say their children form positive relationships with staff and highlight the range of activities children enjoy.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

Staff deploy themselves appropriately with the children, which helps them to supervise children closely and promote their safety. They know how to minimise risks and potential dangers to children, such as through safety checks and risk assessments. Staff understand how to recognise child protection concerns about children and adults. They know how to manage these, such as reporting any concerns to the designated safeguarding lead. Staff also have direct access to information to enable them to refer any concerns to external agencies. The processes for recruiting new staff are robust and staff's ongoing suitability to work with children is regularly reviewed.

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should:

29 March 2023 n manage the daily routines more consistently to meet children's needs and reduce the noise level, particularly to support children's behaviour and provide a consistently calm environment to promote their learning n deepen staff's understanding of the learning intentions, to help them challenge children's learning and development and further extend their progress.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY545549 Local authority West Berkshire Inspection number 10282213 Type of provision Childcare on non-domestic premises Registers Early Years Register Day care type Full day care

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inspection

Total number of places 81 Number of children on roll 114 Name of registered person Little Me Thatcham Limited

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reference number

Telephone number 01635 226466 Date of previous inspection 16 April 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Little Me Day Nursery registered in 2017. The nursery is located in Thatcham, near Newbury, West Berkshire. It is open Monday to Friday, from 7.30am to 6.30pm, for 51 weeks of the year, closing for a week at Christmas and on bank holidays. The nursery currently employs 23 staff. Of these, 11 hold relevant qualifications at level 3 and two staff hold qualifications at level 2. In addition, the manager holds a level 4 qualification. The nursery receives funding to provide free early education for children aged two, three and four.

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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 that into account in their evaluation of the setting. n Discussions and meetings were held with the managers, nominated individual and staff during the inspection. n A sample of relevant documentation was reviewed during the inspection, including evidence of staff's suitability checks and paediatric first-aid certificates. n The inspector interacted and chatted to children, and older children talked to the inspector about activities and resources they enjoy. n The manager and inspector observed and evaluated an activity together. n Feedback about the nursery was gained from parents and carers through some discussions and emails sent in on the day of inspection. n A tour of the nursery was completed and the manager discussed and explained

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Inspection activities

the curriculum and the learning intentions to 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

29 March 2023 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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