Little Jems

Inspection of Little Jems The Hetton Centre, Welfare Road, HOUGHTON LE SPRING, Tyne and Wear DH5 9NE

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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

Staff ensure a warm and welcoming nursery for children. They understand and adhere to babies individual eating and sleeping routines. Children show they are happy and settled. Children's personal, social and emotional development is well supported and they form good relationships with staff and their peers.

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The provision is good

Staff are good role models and have high expectations of children's learning and behaviour. Positive behaviour is encouraged and praised. This results in children behaving well and they are eager to learn. All children are making good progress in their learning in relation to their starting points. Additional funding is thoughtfully and carefully used to ensure all children and their families benefit. For example, some funding is used for inviting other organisations into the nursery. These include dance teachers, a caring for animals organisation and early science projects. Partnership with parents is good and parents are kept well informed of their child's development and progress. Parents are also invited to these extra- curricular monthly events.

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The provision is good

Children benefit from a stimulating curriculum which takes account of their next steps and also their interests. Staff work well with other professionals to meet children's individual needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. All children benefit from having access to a sensory room within the building, which stimulates their senses and promotes relaxation and exploration.

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need to do better?

n The key-person system is effective, overall, and all staff know the children in their care really well. However, when allocating key-person roles, the provider does not always consider the experience or skills of staff, to best support children's individual needs. Staff-to-child ratios are always maintained and are above minimum recommendations when children have been identified as benefiting from extra support. This ensures that all children receive good adult support and attention. n Children's personal development is well managed. Staff provide good support with potty and toilet training. Children benefit from healthy and nutritious meals and snacks. However, not all children are encouraged or supported to try new foods to promote their health and growth. n Staff interact well with children and ensure they support children's development across all areas of learning. Staff are skilled at extending learning experiences.

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need to do better?

For example, as the children have been learning about 'people who help us' a visit from the police takes place. This promotes children's understanding of the world.

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need to do better?

11 June 2024 n Children show a love of books and stories. Staff help to embed what children already know. For example, they provide props and encourage children to explain the sequence of a story themselves. Some children refer to the displays on the wall to remind them of the order of stories. This shows that children make good use of the environment and resources to aid their learning. n Early mathematics skills are included in activities and the daily routine, including when children sort shoes and wellies into pairs before going to play in the nursery garden. n Staff ensure that children have various opportunities to express themselves creatively. For example, as well as different craft activities, children participate in music and movement sessions. They also name and talk about how different instruments are used. Children also use their imagination well to be a caterpillar in a cocoon and also to move like a butterfly.

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need to do better?

n Children's physical development is well promoted. Babies have space to develop movement and walking skills. They also participate in different sensory experiences, such as with paints and they manipulate different materials that make sounds. Older children practise dancing, jumping, hopping, standing on one leg and swaying from side to side when involved in action songs and rhymes. This helps to promote their core strength and balance. n The setting is well managed and effective systems are in place to support staff's well-being. Staff have a positive attitude towards continuous professional development and have access to ongoing training and development courses, including music and movement and outdoor play training. Leaders are skilled at supporting staff to evaluate activities and children's learning. For example, they discuss that for children who prefer to be outside, some activities would be

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need to do better?

better completed outside, or after the children have been out to play, to reduce distractions.

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Safeguarding

The arrangements for safeguarding are effective.

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Safeguarding

There is an open and positive culture around safeguarding that puts children's interests first.

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should:

n consider the key-person system to ensure that every child's care is tailored to meet their individual needs, for example, by making the best use of staffs' experience and skills n support all children to try a more varied range of food, in order to promote good health and nutrition.

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Setting details

Unique reference number EY542448 Local authority Sunderland Inspection number 10353654 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 20 Number of children on roll 38 Name of registered person Morton, Suzanne Marie

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reference number

Telephone number 01915616618 Date of previous inspection 15 January 2019

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Information about this early years setting

Little Jems nursery registered in 2017. It is situated within the Hetton Centre in Houghton-le-Spring. The nursery employs eight members of childcare staff. Of these, four staff hold appropriate early years qualifications at level 3 and three staff are working towards a level 3 qualification. The nursery opens from Monday to Friday all year round. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The nursery provides funded early education for two-, three- and four-year-old children.

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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 provider. n The deputy manager, manager and inspector completed a learning walk together of all areas of the nursery and discussed the early years curriculum. n The inspector talked to staff at appropriate times during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector spoke with the registered individual and the manager about the leadership and management of the nursery. n The special educational needs coordinator, who is also the registered individual, spoke to the inspector about how they support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. 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.

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Inspection activities

n The inspector carried out joint observations of group activities with the manager. n The inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and also viewed written comments from parents, and took account of their views. n The manager showed the inspector a sample of key documentation on request including documentations to demonstrate the suitability of staff. n Children told the inspector about their friends and what they like to do when they are at nursery.

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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

11 June 2024 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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