ABC Early Learning & Childcare Centre UK Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff gather information from parents and carers to develop an understanding of each child's unique needs, including their medical needs, interests and routines, which they plan for accordingly. This positively contributes to children feeling happy, and they actively engage in the wide range of activities provided. Parents speak positively about transitions and report that their children settle well.

Children make good progress from their starting points. Staff repeat activities to ensure all children can benefit from the same experiences and adapt them based on previous reflections. For example, when exploring healthy foods, staff cut open a tomato, ensuring all children can observe the seeds inside. They identify children's next steps and plan activities that support skill development, such as building younger children's vocabulary by exploring different types of transport.

Staff promote children's positive behaviour through consistent and supportive strategies. For example, they sing songs and blow bubbles, helping children to wait. When routine activities, such as tidying up, begin to lose momentum, they calmly ring a bell to refocus children's attention. Staff encourage the use of good manners and check in on children's feelings, responding with warmth and affection. This helps children to feel safe.

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

• Leaders demonstrate a secure understanding of early education. They recognise the importance of delivering a curriculum tailored to each child's individual needs, with a clear emphasis on building strong relationships, supporting communication and promoting emotional regulation.
• Leaders observe and accurately assess staff practice, providing constructive feedback and support to promote their continuous professional growth. However, some staff interactions do not effectively build on children's existing knowledge and skills. This limits opportunities to extend or challenge children's learning.
• Staff build children's cultural capital by introducing new experiences and knowledge beyond their everyday environment. For example, children interact with horses, learn about the life cycle of a caterpillar and explore the roles of 'people who help us' by seeing a real fire engine up close. These experiences enhance children's understanding of the world around them.
• Additional funding is spent appropriately to support eligible children's learning. However, key persons do not always have a clear understanding of how these funds are used, which limits their ability to plan for and support individual children's learning effectively.
• Leaders and staff have a strong understanding of their safeguarding responsibilities and implement appropriate measures to keep children safe.
• These measures include teaching children about stranger danger, effectively recruiting and inducting new staff and conducting thorough risk assessments. Leaders diligently identify and report any welfare concerns in line with safeguarding policies and fully understand their reporting obligations to Ofsted.
• Communication and language development is woven into daily activities. For example, children have opportunities to practise simple signs alongside singing, and they enjoy a wide range of stories that connect with their interests. During storytelling, staff pause to let children finish familiar sentences. They engage them in conversations about past experiences, which helps strengthen memory and comprehension skills.
• When children play independently, they sometimes create high noise levels, making it hard for both children and staff to hear. As a result, they often raise their voices to be heard, which does not support the development of children's communication and language skills.
• Staff provide children with appropriate supervision, support and care. For example, when children attempt to climb on unsuitable resources, staff promptly redirect them to suitable equipment to safely support their developing physical skills. They promote safety during mealtimes and remain alert to any changes in behaviour or well-being, demonstrating strong knowledge of each individual child.
• Leaders and staff work closely to monitor children's progress and provide timely support to foster their development. For example, they promptly identify when children are not meeting expected milestones and collaborate with other professionals to deliver targeted interventions.
• Parents speak very highly of the setting, their children's progress and the support provided. They particularly highlight the exceptional care and attention given to children with special educational needs and/or disabilities.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to identify where teaching can be further enhanced to extend and challenge children's knowledge and skills
• help staff to understand how additional funding is used to help them plan for and support eligible children's learning effectively
• consider the volume of noise in the setting to ensure it does not hinder children's opportunities to continually develop their communication and language skills.