Little Fireflies Nursery at High Hurstwood

Little Fireflies Nursery at High Hurstwood

Unique reference number (URN): 2823933 Address: High Hurstwood Village Hall, Chillies Lane, High Hurstwood, TN22 4AD Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises Registered with Ofsted: 20/12/2024 Registers: EYR, CCR, VCR Registered person: Newton Lang Childcare Limited

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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

Children build securely on what they already know and can do because teaching develops their knowledge and skills progressively from their individual starting points. Babies develop secure communication, physical and personal skills as they confidently explore their environment, communicate their needs using signs and become increasingly independent in their play and daily routines.

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Achievement Strong standard

Toddlers build successfully on these foundations as they collaborate with others, confidently communicate their choices, persevere when solving problems and adapt their thinking when their first ideas are unsuccessful. Older children confidently explain their thinking, test ideas, solve practical problems and apply newly acquired vocabulary naturally in their play. For example, they proudly describe their potion as 'overflowing' and explain why one container holds more than another after investigating their ideas together.

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Achievement Strong standard

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning make sustained progress because support is carefully tailored, reviewed regularly and adapted as their needs develop. Consequently, children leave the setting with the confidence, independence, knowledge and skills needed for the next stage of their education.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children behave consistently well because leaders have established a calm, respectful culture with clear expectations that are understood by staff, children and families. Warm, responsive relationships help children feel emotionally secure, enabling them to approach new experiences with confidence and enthusiasm.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They remain engaged in purposeful play for sustained periods, show perseverance when tasks become challenging and readily revisit previous ideas to deepen their understanding. For example, children create an imaginary helping squad, riding bikes to help others before developing their story together. Staff recognise children's individual stages of development and provide sensitive support that enables them to manage transitions successfully and develop increasing independence while maintaining high expectations.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Children collaborate thoughtfully with one another. They take turns, listen to different viewpoints and work together to solve problems during play. Staff use gentle explanations, signing and visual prompts to help children understand turn-taking and the needs of others. They model respectful communication consistently, helping children resolve minor disagreements independently and develop empathy for others. Children confidently express their feelings using familiar strategies and increasingly manage their emotions without relying on adult intervention.

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Behaviour, attitudes and establishing routines Strong standard

Leaders work closely with families to promote regular attendance and consistent routines, recognising the importance of continuity in children's learning and wellbeing. Where children require additional support, staff use personalised visual communication aids and adapt transitions between rooms to children's individual needs. For example, children move to their new room alongside a familiar key person and can return to their previous room until they feel secure. These approaches help children understand expectations, communicate their needs and manage change successfully. Consequently, children develop resilience, confidence and secure attitudes that prepare them well for the next stage of their education.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's welfare and wellbeing are promoted consistently well through warm, nurturing relationships and care practices that reflect each child's individual needs. Babies receive responsive care from practitioners who know their routines well. Staff follow safer sleep guidance and safer eating practices consistently, enabling children to feel safe, secure and settled throughout the day. Older children confidently manage age-appropriate self-care routines, independently accessing tissues, washing their hands thoroughly and explaining why these routines help prevent the spread of germs.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children develop healthy lifestyles through well-established daily routines. They serve themselves at mealtimes, pour drinks, use real crockery and cutlery confidently and enjoy nutritious meals in a relaxed, sociable environment. Staff promote physical development through daily opportunities to climb, balance, explore and take managed risks, encouraging children to think carefully about keeping themselves and others safe while remaining curious and active.

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Children's welfare and wellbeing Strong standard

Children's emotional wellbeing is supported consistently. Staff use sensitive interactions, signing, visual supports and emotional support resources to help children recognise, express and manage their emotions with increasing confidence. Children talk openly about their feelings, recall strategies to help themselves feel calm and develop positive relationships built on kindness and respect. For example, staff use colour-coded emotional resources to help children identify and talk about their feelings. Children learn strategies such as breathing in deeply and slowly blowing out to help themselves feel calm, which they can recall when they need them.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Leaders have designed an ambitious, well-sequenced curriculum that reflects the setting's curiosity-led ethos and provides children with the knowledge, skills and confidence they need for future learning. From the earliest stages, leaders prioritise children's communication, physical development, emotional security and independence, before progressively broadening learning across all areas as children get older. Staff implement this through carefully planned environments and interactions. For example, babies independently access low-level resources, while staff use songs, stories, signing and visual prompts to develop their communication and confidence. As a result, even the youngest children increasingly communicate their needs, make choices and explore independently. Planning reflects children's individual development alongside the needs of each group of children, ensuring learning remains purposeful and responsive.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Teaching consistently encourages children to think, investigate and solve problems for themselves. Practitioners observe carefully, extend children's ideas through skilful questioning and allow them time to test different solutions before intervening. During sustained play, children compare containers, testing their ideas and confidently explaining why one container holds more than another. Staff introduce ambitious vocabulary naturally within children's play. For example, while children create 'crocodile food', staff introduce words and concepts such as 'seasoning', 'capacity' and 'opposable thumbs'. This broadens children's vocabulary while maintaining their curiosity and extending their ideas.

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Curriculum and teaching Strong standard

Communication, language and independence are prioritised from the earliest stages. As children develop, staff progressively increase the challenge, encouraging them to make decisions, test ideas and apply what they know independently. Purposeful professional development, coaching and peer support ensure teaching continues to evolve in response to children's emerging needs, resulting in a curriculum that is implemented consistently well across the setting.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders have established an inclusive culture in which every child is known well and ambitious expectations underpin the support they receive. Emerging needs are identified early through careful assessment, detailed knowledge of children's development and strong partnerships with families. Staff adapt teaching, routines and the learning environment swiftly, reducing barriers to learning and wellbeing and enabling children to participate fully from the earliest opportunity.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Children receiving additional support benefit from highly personalised provision that reflects their individual strengths, interests and next steps. Staff consistently use signing, visual supports, personalised communication systems and strategies to help children manage their feelings and communicate their needs. As a result, children develop positive relationships and grow in confidence. Children become increasingly independent because adaptations are reviewed regularly and refined as their needs change. For example, children confidently use communication aids to ask for a turn, understand expectations and participate successfully alongside their peers.

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Inclusion Strong standard

Leaders work collaboratively with families and a wide range of other services involved in children's care and development, implementing specialist advice thoughtfully and evaluating its impact carefully. Additional funding is targeted strategically and reviewed regularly to ensure it improves children's experiences, development and access to the curriculum. Consequently, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning make sustained progress, participate confidently in nursery life and flourish in an environment where they are respected, valued and fully included.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders are ambitious and reflective, with a clear vision for providing a curiosity-led curriculum that enables all children to flourish. They have an accurate understanding of the setting's strengths and use regular monitoring, professional dialogue and careful evaluation of children's progress to identify priorities and continually improve the quality of education. Leaders review the impact of changes thoughtfully, adapting practice where necessary to ensure improvements continue to enhance children's experiences and outcomes. Professional development is purposeful and closely aligned to the needs of children and staff. Leaders use training, coaching and peer observations to make specific improvements to teaching. For example, following training about how 2-year-olds learn, staff now gain children's attention before speaking, break instructions into manageable steps and give children sufficient time to process what they hear. Consequently, staff are more confident in

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

their teaching, and children's language is developing more rapidly. Staff confidently articulate the curriculum, know children's starting points and next steps well, and consistently implement leaders' high expectations across the setting.

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Leadership and governance Strong standard

Leaders support staff wellbeing and manage workload through accessible room-based leadership, coaching and opportunities for professional development. Staff value having a manager who knows their room, children and priorities well, enabling them to seek support readily and continually develop their practice. Leaders foster strong partnerships with families and other services to support children's learning, development and wellbeing. Additional funding is targeted carefully and reviewed regularly to maximise its impact.

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Compulsory Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the compulsory part of the Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Compulsory Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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Voluntary Childcare Register requirements

This setting has met the requirements of the voluntary part of Childcare Register.

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Register

When we check if settings meet the Voluntary Childcare Register requirements, they can have the following outcomes:

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

Children thrive in this warm, nurturing setting where they feel safe, valued and excited to learn. Secure relationships help children develop confidence and resilience. Babies confidently return to familiar adults for reassurance, shared stories and songs before independently resuming their exploration. Across the setting, children eagerly choose from carefully planned experiences that spark their curiosity, while staff know them well and ensure every child is included, respected and supported to flourish.

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

Children become deeply engaged in learning that encourages them to investigate, collaborate and solve problems together. Toddlers excitedly work as a team to rescue frozen toy animals from blocks of ice, experimenting with pipettes and warmer water, persevering when their first ideas do not work and celebrating their success together. Older children sustain imaginative play for extended periods, developing their own ideas together and confidently deciding how their play will evolve. They create imaginary scenarios, collaborate with their friends and show resilience when their ideas do not work as expected.

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

Children develop warm friendships and communicate confidently with one another. Signing, visual supports and personalised communication strategies enable all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who face other barriers to learning, to participate fully alongside their peers. Children develop increasing independence through self-care routines, serving themselves at mealtimes and making thoughtful decisions about their play while learning to assess appropriate risks. The importance of regular attendance is promoted effectively, enabling children to benefit from consistent routines, secure relationships and the full breadth of the ambitious curriculum. Consequently, children leave the setting as confident, resilient learners who are well prepared for the next stage of their education

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Address:

High Hurstwood Village Hall Chillies Lane High Hurstwood TN22 4AD

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Address:

Type: Childcare on non-domestic premises

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Address:

Registered person: Newton Lang Childcare Limited

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Address:

Operating hours: Monday,Tuesday,Wednesday,Thursday,Friday : 07:30 - 17:30

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Next steps

Leaders should build on their already strong curriculum by further developing provision for babies and extending opportunities for learning in the forest school environment to deepen children's curiosity, resilience and independence.

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About this inspection

The inspector spoke with leaders, practitioners, the designated safeguarding lead and the special educational needs coordinator 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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