The Little Den Day Nursery - Chesterton

Inspection of The Little Den Day Nursery - Chesterton Rowhurst Industrial Estate, Apedale Road, Chesterton, Newcastle-Under-Lyme, Staffordshire ST5 6BH

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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 Not applicable

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The provision is good

Children are happy in this warm and homely setting. Staff create a nurturing and welcoming environment that helps children feel emotionally secure. There is a strong key-person system and children form good attachments to staff, enabling them to separate from their parents and carers confidently to play and learn with their friends. Staff use children's interests and their next stages in learning to plan a range of activities that support all children to make good progress from their starting points. For example, babies post items into containers, developing their small-motor skills and hand-eye coordination as they do so. Toddlers build on their physical strength as they join in action songs. Pre-school children play cooperatively as they use their imagination to negotiate and communicate with each other in the role-play area. Staff use the local community to extend children's experiences and learning environments. For example, they take the children to the

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The provision is good

local park for a nature walk and to feed the ducks, or to the shops to discuss what shops sell and to look and learn about the world around them.

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The provision is good

Staff use lots of praise to reinforce good behaviours, such as good tidying, and say 'Well done for washing your hands.' Staff distract children from unwanted behaviours with a range of strategies, and children are learning to manage their emotions well.

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need to do better?

n Leaders and managers are very passionate about the care they give children. The strong ethos is to ensure that children have exciting opportunities that enable them to flourish, aim high and become confident learners. Staff feel that management supports them well. They have regular supervision meetings where the managers set both room and personal targets to improve outcomes for the children. The open-door policy supports staff both personally and professionally. Staff access professional development opportunities, both mandatory and further training, to improve their teaching to higher levels. n Staff support children's communication and language development well. They create a language-rich environment for all children to hear a range of words and sounds. They model good language and teach children new words. For example, staff discuss how the apples are 'crunchy' and older babies repeat the words.

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need to do better?

Pre-school staff introduce words such as 'stomp' as the children pretend to be dinosaurs. Staff encourage older children to recall events and ask them open- ended questions, giving them time to think and respond. n Children start to develop a love of books. Babies sit independently turning the pages in books and pointing to pictures. Staff talk to them about what they see as babies excitedly lift the flaps to see which animal is underneath. Staff further support children's love of books with a library for them to take books home to

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need to do better?

26 November 2024 enjoy, which builds on children's early literacy skills. n Overall, staff support children's learning well and all children make good progress. Babies explore confidently, showing wonder as they investigate a range of sensory materials. Toddlers develop pre-writing skills as they mark- make in sand or manipulate dough. Pre-school children develop their large muscles as they run and jump outdoors. However, occasionally, during group activities, staff do not always take account of the different ways in which children learn. The activity goes on for too long for some children, which causes them to lose their focus and attention. n Children start to learn the rules and routines and begin to understand what staff expect of them. For example, they tidy up their toys or wait in line to come in from outdoors. However, during snack routines, babies wait too long in their seats before they are served with snacks, and they become fidgety and restless.

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need to do better?

At lunchtime, pre-school children wait in turn to self-serve their meal. This results in some children waiting for long periods, which impacts on the children's behaviour. n Partnerships with parents are a strength of the setting. Parents are keen to say how staff support them and their families above and beyond their expectations. Parents get daily communication, both using an online system and verbally when they collect children. The setting provides parents with home-learning ideas to support children's progress. Managers are committed to supporting families, and plans are in place to further enhance the impact of home-learning opportunities. n Staff promote children's health and well-being. Children go outdoors every day to benefit from fresh air and physical exercise. They have healthy snacks and access to fresh water. Children can bring a packed lunch from home or have a hot, cooked meal at the setting. Staff talk to the children about staying healthy

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need to do better?

with topics such as toothbrushing and good oral hygiene.

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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 support staff to tailor activities more precisely to help support each child's learning, maintain their focus and keep them fully engaged n review and improve the organisation of snack and lunchtime routines to minimise children's waiting times.

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Setting details

Unique reference number 2696880 Local authority Staffordshire Inspection number 10372463 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 40 Number of children on roll 60 Name of registered person The Little Den Day Nursery Ltd

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reference number

Telephone number 07704696464 Date of previous inspection Not applicable

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Information about this early years setting

The Little Den Day Nursery registered in 2022 and is based in Newcastle-under- Lyme, Staffordshire. The setting opens from Monday to Friday for 50 weeks each year. The setting is closed for bank holidays, one week at Christmas and at the end of August. Sessions are from 7.30am until 6pm. The setting employs 15 members of staff. Of these, two hold an appropriate early years qualification at level 6, one at level 5, and 10 hold a qualification at level 3. The setting provides early education funding for all eligible children.

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Inspection activities

n The manager joined the inspector on a learning walk and talked to the inspector about their curriculum and what they want the children to learn. n Children told the inspector about their friends and what they like to do when they are at the setting. 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 inspector spoke to several parents during the inspection and took account of their views. n The inspector and manager carried out joint observations of group activities.

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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

26 November 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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