Abacus @ Baileys Court Activity Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff build positive relationships with children and their families before they start at the setting. Staff get to know what children can already do so they plan successfully to meet their care and development needs from the beginning. This enables children to arrive happy, and those new to the setting soon settle and have fun learning.

Leaders plan a good curriculum to prepare children well for school, focusing on their prime areas of development. Staff encourage children's independence, language skills, relationships and active learning. Children relish being outdoors, where they practise their physical abilities, know how to dress for the weather and learn to make safe choices. Staff enable children to develop their resilience and critical thinking effectively. They encourage children to produce their own ideas and use trial and error to see if they work.

Leaders evaluate their practice effectively and implement new initiatives to benefit the children. For example, they have increased outdoor learning, which has had a positive impact on children's behaviour and well-being. Leaders have helped staff to take responsibility for a specific area of learning each term to ensure a balanced curriculum. They have introduced peer observations and leaders are strong role models to ensure children receive good-quality teaching overall.

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

• Leaders use funding well to ensure all children access good experiences. For example, they increase staff ratios for outings into the community and for higher risk activities, as well as purchasing resources that motivate children's specific interests. Leaders are proactive in getting children additional support, ensuring they receive the help they need to catch up with their peers before going to school.
• Children engage well in the stimulating environment. They make independent choices and lead their learning. For example, they fill containers and pretend to make cakes with mud, counting their stick candles and using their imagination to decorate with flowers. Staff help them to learn the names and smells of herbs, and to notice sizes and weight and that some items sink in water and others float. However, occasionally, they do not notice children who are not benefitting as much from the good-quality teaching.
• Leaders plan effectively for children's language and communications skills. Overall, staff implement this well. They use words with signs for younger children and those learning English as an additional language. They add vocabulary and use repetition, such as a welcome song, where children also learn each other's names. Staff use good questioning techniques to encourage children's problem solving and give them enough time to think and respond. On occasion, however, not all staff give clear instructions, particularly in large-group activities, so not all children understand what they must do.
• Staff implement good care practices so children develop an important understanding of a safe and healthy lifestyle. For example, children help themselves to drinks of water and get tissues to wipe their nose and then place them in the bin. They wash their hands after using the toilet and being outside and before eating. They learn to manage age-appropriate risks, such as using tools, climbing low trees, building a balancing course and being aware of others when swinging on a rope tyre.
• Staff have had refresher training in behaviour management. They consistently support children in taking turns and thinking of others. Staff help children to consider their own and others' emotions and the consequences of their actions, reinforcing this using stories. Children develop a positive awareness of their own uniqueness and other people's differences. They learn to value each other, share and be kind.
• Parents confirm the good partnerships, such as working with staff over potty training. They comment on the good exchange of information, which helps them to support their children at home and staff to meet their children's needs. They confirm how well their children are progressing, especially in their language skills and making friends. Leaders have formed strong links with the local school, which helps children to transition smoothly and feel emotionally secure.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop staffs' awareness of monitoring all children's engagement, to know when to intervene and move their learning on
• ensure staff provide clear instructions in group activities, to support children's understanding more effectively.