Little Acorns Day Nursery and Montessori School Hampton

Hampton

Unique reference number (URN): 2816840 Address: 3a Waterhouse Way, Hampton Gardens, Peterborough, PE7 8SJ Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 04/12/2024 Registers: EYR Registered person: Little Acorn Day Nurseries Ltd

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Safeguarding standards met

The safeguarding standards are met. This means that leaders and/or those responsible for governance and oversight fulfil their specific responsibilities and have established an open culture in which safeguarding is everyone's responsibility and concerns are actively identified, acted upon and managed. As a result, children are made safer and feel safe.

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How we evaluate safeguarding

When we inspect settings for safeguarding, they can have the following outcomes:

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How we evaluate safeguarding

Met: The setting has an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not met: The setting has not created an open and positive culture of safeguarding. Not all legal requirements are met.

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Achievement Strong standard

All children make excellent progress with their language development. Babies and toddlers use sign language to participate when singing nursery rhymes. They learn new words rapidly, using these fluently in their daily interactions. Children make rapid progress with their physical development. Babies learn to use climbing equipment safely, and older children refine their balancing skills outdoors.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children demonstrate superb recall of their learning, including different mathematical concepts. They make excellent progress with their early literacy skills as they recognise and remember the initial sounds of words and match items accordingly. Children develop deep concentration and persistence when tackling challenging tasks such as transferring water between containers using only a sponge. Children, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, recognise different emotions and learn to collaborate. They are sociable, friendly and confident to express themselves. Children are extremely well prepared for the next stage of their learning.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders work closely with parents and carers to promote the importance of punctuality and attendance. They offer a flexible approach to give babies and children time to build secure relationships with staff. Staff get to know children and their families incredibly well and are extremely warm and responsive.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour that are consistently implemented from the outset. Staff sing songs with children about using manners and support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities to understand the expectations of the setting in an appropriate way. Staff help children reflect on whether their behaviour is expected or unexpected and how their actions affect themselves and others. Highly experienced staff provide well-timed, engaging group times that promote children's listening and attention skills. Staff are excellent role models and are positive and patient. They teach children the skills they need for future success. Children listen respectfully to staff and follow directions, enthusiastically following the routines of the setting and participating in routine activities such as tidying up. Children are very kind and helpful, collaborating when completing tasks together. They demonstrate a love for learning,

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

enthusiastically participating in group activities and managing their behaviour when a fire engine visits the setting. Many children, including toddlers, are confident to sit in the cab of the fire engine for a photo.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff prioritise children's emotional wellbeing. Leaders and staff work closely with parents and carers, flexibly adjusting their procedures to ensure babies have plenty of time to settle and form secure attachments with staff. Transitions between rooms are exceptionally well managed. Staff provide 2 key transition times a year, which gives children, staff and parents time to build close relationships. Leaders ensure key persons move with their key children to the next room, which further strengthens relationships and helps children to immediately start learning and exploring.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff skilfully support all children to recognise and manage their emotions positively. They consistently promote healthy lifestyles, teaching children to make positive decisions. Staff teach independence skills consistently throughout the setting. Babies eagerly help tidy away, and toddlers pour their own drinks and scrape their plates after snack.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Staff offer a wide range of home-cooked nutritious food and ensure children's individual dietary needs are met. They manage children's personal care with dignity and sensitivity, teaching children the skills they need to manage this themselves. Babies explore how to keep themselves clean when washing their toy babies, and pre-school children learn how to manage their own oral health. Staff provide focused opportunities for all children to learn how to keep themselves safe, discussing fire safety and the role of emergency services.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders continually evaluate the quality of their curriculum and how effectively staff implement it. Their current focus is supporting staff to further strengthen their excellent teaching practice, in line with their bespoke teaching methods. Staff have a thorough understanding of child development and have high expectations for children's achievement. They consistently provide well-prepared and meaningful learning experiences based on their detailed knowledge of children's interests. For example, they extend children's fascination with planets and support them to recall the order of the solar system.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Staff prioritise children's communication development. They teach children, including babies and those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, sign language to support their communication. Staff promote a love of reading and singing and skilfully extend children's vocabulary. They support children's social and emotional development thoughtfully, using highly effective group activities to help all children develop relationships with others and recognise and manage their emotions. Staff focus on supporting children's physical development, and there is excellent progression throughout the setting. Toddlers manipulate play dough in a variety of ways, and pre-school children use mark-making materials superbly to draw and colour. Staff consistently use engaging and high-quality interactions to teach children. For example, they skilfully support pre-school children to compare the weights of different items and remember

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

what ingredients are used to bake banana bread.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders are fully committed to identifying children's needs quickly and removing barriers to learning. Staff complete detailed assessments and develop comprehensive and targeted plans to support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). They use a variety of highly impactful strategies to reduce or remove barriers to learning, including sensory and communication-based interventions. Leaders and staff work closely with parents, carers and external professionals to continually review and refine the support offered. They make flexible adjustments to routines and transitions, such as delaying transitions between rooms, to ensure children with SEND develop the foundational skills needed for the next stage of learning.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders and staff build close working relationships with parents and carers to ensure that disadvantaged children and those known to social care have their needs accurately identified. This enables staff to provide consistent support and enables children to make excellent progress with their development. Leaders strategically use additional funding to meet children's individual needs, for example providing resources and support that help children manage their emotions. Staff support many children who speak English as an additional language. They respect their home language and use a variety of communication strategies to teach them English. Leaders and staff celebrate the uniqueness of every child in their setting. They welcome families and children and encourage them to proudly share their backgrounds and experiences, enhancing learning for all.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders use their deep understanding of the local community and child development to create an inclusive and well-designed learning environment for babies and children. They are passionate about providing high-quality provision for their community and consistently evaluate and improve its effectiveness. Leaders are currently focusing on supporting staff to further strengthen their teaching practice. They are providing high-quality professional development opportunities and operating a 'buddy system' so that more experienced practitioners can share excellent practice. Leaders strategically involve staff in the ongoing development of the setting. They ensure that staff workload is manageable, and staff report feeling extremely well supported in the setting, both for their wellbeing and ongoing professional development.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders work proactively with external professionals, parents and carers to meet the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They help parents to access further support, which helps provide a consistent approach. Leaders ensure that disadvantaged children and those known to social care receive the support they need to thrive in the setting. Parents speak extremely highly about the setting. They deeply appreciate the support they have received for their children's development. They comment on how prepared their children are for school and how they are developing positive values, becoming responsible, kind and independent.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children thrive at this warm and welcoming setting because leaders and staff promote regular attendance. They form secure attachments with their key person, who remains with them as they move through the rooms. This continuity enables children and their families to build close relationships with staff and ensures a consistent approach to children's learning and development. Children benefit from their parents' active participation in the setting. Parents share resources, read stories and even provide a fire engine for children to explore. These experiences increase children's confidence and help them and their families feel valued and part of the setting.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children trust staff as they see them treating their families with respect. Their individual needs are met because staff gather and share detailed information with parents about their care and progress. Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, benefit from experienced and observant staff who identify and minimise any potential barriers to learning quickly. Children feel included as staff made adaptations to activities so they can participate. Babies and children learn sign language that helps them to communicate. They grow in confidence as staff encourage them to share their opinions and express their feelings. Children feel valued as staff listen to them and respect their individual contributions.

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What it's like to be a child at this setting

Children are confident, sociable and friendly as they feel secure and comfortable in the setting. They learn to be part of the community as they visit local care homes and farms. This builds their confidence and knowledge of the world around them. Children also learn to be safe and make healthy choices as staff help them reflect and think about the impact of their decisions. Children make excellent progress as staff have high expectations for children's learning and development. They enthusiastically participate in engaging learning opportunities and enjoy chatting to staff about their home lives and experiences. Children are kind to each other. They build strong relationships and collaborate to complete tasks.

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Address:

3a Waterhouse Way Hampton Gardens Peterborough PE7 8SJ

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Little Acorn Day Nurseries Ltd

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:00 - 18:00

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Next steps

Leaders should ensure continued improvement in the setting's successful work to remove barriers for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to realise a transformational impact on all children's achievement and wellbeing.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, a special educational needs coordinator, parents and children during the inspection.

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About this inspection

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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Facts and figures used on inspection

This data was available to the inspector at the time of the inspection.

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Exceptional

Practice is exceptional: of the highest standard nationally. Other settings can learn from it.

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Strong standard

The setting reaches a strong standard. Leaders are working above the standard expected of them.

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Expected standard

The setting is fulfilling the expected standard of education and/or care. This means they are following the standard set out in statutory and non ‑ statutory legislation and the professional standards expected of them.

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Needs attention

The expected standards are not met but leaders are likely able to make the necessary improvements.

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Urgent improvement

The setting needs to make urgent improvements to provide the expected standard of education and/or care. services providing education and skills for children and learners of all ages, and inspects and regulates services that care for children and young people.

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

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Urgent improvement

T: 0300 123 1231 Textphone: 0161 618 8524 E: enquiries@ofsted.gov.uk W: www.gov.uk/ofsted

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