345 Springfield

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are highly independent, and feel exceptionally safe and secure in this inspiring setting. They are welcomed each day to an environment and activities that ignite their excitement and curiosity. For example, children deeply engage in scientific experiments. They jump for joy as their mini volcano erupts and fizzes over. Staff encourage children to solve problems and make predictions, while making their learning extremely enjoyable. Children benefit from warm relationships with staff and peers, and initiate conversations with their friends. They are confident communicators. A culture of respect is fostered through the way staff and children speak to one another.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. Children take turns brilliantly. They use a sand timer to wait for their turn on the rope swing. Children respond well to opportunities for responsibility as they wash their hands and prepare their own fruit at snack time. Children's attitudes towards their learning are outstanding. They think of their own ideas and collect what they need to continue their play. For example, children find binoculars to look at the London skyline, use toothbrushes to brush dinosaurs' teeth and find pots to collect leaves. Children are very proud of their achievements. They hold up their paintings for friends to see and attach their own work to low-level displays.

What does the early years setting do well and what does it need to do better?

• Staff's knowledge of each child is exceptional. They use the information from children's starting points in development and their observations to plan a highly sequenced curriculum. Staff provide children with rich experiences that broaden their horizons and excite them to learn. They provide opportunities which meet children's individual needs and help them to make accelerated progress.
• Staff are highly skilled at planning for children's interests and building on what children already know. They prepare and plan resources for mark making, which children turn to spontaneously. For instance, children record which dinosaurs they have found in the fossil dig. Children gain excellent early writing skills, which help to prepare them well for school.
• Staff promote a love of reading by putting stories and reference books in all areas. Children know many familiar stories well and enjoy listening to audio stories as they eat their healthy snack. They are confident at retelling stories in their own words and creating their own books.
• Children benefit from exceptional interactions with staff, who extend children's learning and increase the challenge at every opportunity. During a wonderful drumming activity in the garden, children direct their play and listen to each other's ideas. They demonstrate high levels of involvement and concentration as they experiment with the sound each drum makes, and suggest songs and
• Inspection report: 345 Springfield 1 July 2022 2 rhymes.
• Staff place a strong emphasis on developing children's communication and language. They model key vocabulary to a high standard, so that children talk confidently about their activities. For example, children explain how they are using the 'pipette to add the vinegar' and that they are 'splitting the tea bag in half so they can see the leaves'.
• There are a wealth of opportunities for children to learn about the natural world. They use their senses to explore the unique and vibrant woodland area. They make clay models with natural objects, hunt for insects and create mud paintings
• Staff embrace diversity and children's different cultural backgrounds. Children have a varied experience of life in other countries through their play. They ask what certain fruits are in Spanish, try on traditional dress from Kenya as they read the story of 'Handa's Surprise' and make breads from all over the world.
• The curriculum for physical development is highly ambitious. Staff use their spacious garden expertly well to provide activities that have a positive impact on children's physical health. Children are able to measure their own risk and be active. They hang like 'sloths' on the climbing frame, ride bikes and climb up ladders.
• Staff communicate effectively with parents about their children's progress and create special books of their learning journey. They are shared with children throughout the year. Parents are so happy with their child's experiences and the close bonds which they have with their key persons.
• The inspirational staff monitor children closely and, with support from leaders, they ensure that all children make rapid progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are quickly identified. They are individually supported by skilled staff, so that there are no gaps in children's learning.
• The experienced and hardworking leaders are extremely effective at reflecting on their practice and supporting their dedicated team through a consistent and embedded vision. Staff have opportunities to attend training and work on ideas together in regular meetings to continuously improve. For example, they attend training on sensory regulation, and supporting children's well-being and children who speak English as an additional language.