Alyth Kindergarten

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form exceptionally close bonds with their key person and other staff. Children are greeted warmly by staff when they arrive at the kindergarten. This promotes children's sense of well-being immensely. Children appear excited and keen to play and meet their friends. The environment, indoors and outdoors, is highly stimulating, engaging and richly resourced. Children choose interesting and challenging things to do. For example, they actively engage in problem-solving activities, such as threading cards, identifying numbers and shapes and matching and comparing, during a wide range of practical activities.

Staff have very high expectations of all children. They reward children's exceptional behaviour and achievements with high levels of praise and reassurance. This increases children's confidence. Children smile with pride when they are praised for working collaboratively and use their negotiating skills as they construct a tower with magnetic blocks. Children develop their communication skills very well. They thoroughly enjoy participating in discussions, storytelling, singing and rhyme sessions. Children enthusiastically take part in high-quality literacy sessions and learn, for instance, that rhyming words have the same sounds at the end.

Leaders and staff plan a wealth of activities and experiences that help to enrich children's understanding of equality and diversity. For instance, children gain great enjoyment as they participate in regular cooking activities to celebrate Shabbat, the Jewish day of rest. Furthermore, children visit places in the community, such as the church, older people's homes and the local shops. Children are extremely well prepared for school. For example, they practise making marks on paper and in sand with simple tools or water, and use paintbrushes outside. Children are very well prepared for school. All children, including those who receive funded early years education, make extremely good progress from their starting points in learning.

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

• Extremely good settling-in procedures support children to feel safe and secure. For instance, prior to children starting, senior staff visit them in their homes. Parents also have the opportunity to attend a weekly playgroup at the kindergarten.
• The highly qualified and experienced staff are passionate about how children develop and learn. Working as a team, they use their in-depth knowledge to promote children's strong progress across all areas of the curriculum.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported exceptionally well. Staff are extremely proactive in seeking out specialist support, equipment and resources to enable them to make the best possible progress.
• Staff consistently observe children and accurately assess what they can and cannot yet achieve. They use this information exceptionally well to target children's next stage in their development and offer children challenging and interesting activities.
• Staff provide excellent opportunities for children to develop their imaginative skills. Children thoroughly enjoy designing and creating flags. They use words, such as 'shimmering' and 'transparent', to describe the colourful craft resources they use.
• Children benefit from extensive outdoor activities in the well-resourced garden, where they get plenty of fresh air and physical exercise. Staff meticulously teach children the importance of following hygiene procedures. For instance, using props, children pretend to be dentists and talk about the importance of keeping their teeth clean. Staff are highly proactive in promoting healthy eating and encourage children to try a variety of foods.
• Staff read stories and use props imaginatively to involve children superbly. Children become engrossed and eagerly anticipate what will happen next. They learn how stories develop and join in and repeat phrases they hear. Children match the props with the pictures in the book.
• Partnerships with parents are very strong and valued. Leaders and staff use highly effective systems to share a wealth of information about children's achievements at the kindergarten and at home. Parents' comments are extremely positive about leaders and staff. They greatly appreciate how staff promote and keep children's well-being and learning at the heart of everything they do.
• The manager is extremely dedicated and has very high expectations of staff. She takes an active part in the kindergarten, working alongside children and staff. The manager routinely observes teaching and learning. This helps to continually raise the quality of staff's interactions with children.
• Staff say they are very well supported, and their professional development is actively encouraged. The manager conducts regularly staff appraisals and leads by example. Arrangements for self-evaluation are extremely rigorous. The manager sharply focuses on teaching and learning and values the views of staff, children and parents in this process.