Ambito Walton Childrens Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy attending this warm, welcoming and inclusive provision. They settle quickly and demonstrate that they feel happy, safe and secure. Children establish strong bonds with staff, who are kind, nurturing and patient in their approach. Staff are highly sensitive to children's individual needs. They gently encourage children to explore the learning environment freely and nurture children's relationships and self-esteem. Children have positive attitudes to learning and make good progress from their starting points. They are keen to try new things. For example, children tentatively make marks in shaving foam, exploring the texture of the foam on their fingers. Through the staff's calm and encouraging interactions, children develop their confidence and are later observed to access this activity independently. They smile and squeal in delight as they make tracks in the foam with wheeled toys.

Children behave well for their age and stage of development. Staff have high expectations and communicate these consistently to children. Children are continuously praised for their efforts. For example, they are commended for 'good listening' and 'good sitting'. This helps children to understand what is expected of them and prepares them well for the next stage in their learning.

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

• Leaders and staff have made instrumental progress since the last inspection. They have wholeheartedly engaged with the local authority and have embraced the support and guidance available to them. Through precise and purposeful training opportunities, staff are now more confident in their abilities to support children's unique needs. Detailed supervision meetings and observations of practice help staff to further develop the quality of their teaching.
• Staff make accurate assessments of children's learning. They give careful consideration to children's education, health and care plans and use this information in the planning of activities. Leaders of the setting have recently introduced a new curriculum. However, this is very much in its infancy. Leaders and staff now need to embed this curriculum and monitor and evaluate the impact on outcomes for children.
• Staff are successful in sequencing children's learning. For example, they provide activities and resources, such as dough, to support children to develop the muscles in their wrists and hands in readiness for writing. Children's hand-eye coordination is strengthened through activities such as pouring rice and filling containers.
• Children are beginning to develop their independence skills. However, occasionally, in their eagerness to help, staff complete tasks for children rather than encouraging them to have a go first. This means that children are not always able to build on their existing independence and extend their self-help skills further.
• Children's communication and language development is supported well. Staff consistently model new language, using single words and repetition as children play. Staff skilfully use visual images and objects to further aid children's understanding. For example, staff show children a nappy to indicate that it is time for their nappy change and use simple sign language to show that an activity has finished. This supports children to understand what is happening next and impacts positively on their behaviour and ability to understand changes in the nursery routine.
• Children enjoy spending time outdoors. They impressively climb and descend the slide, balance along planks and excitedly jump on the small trampoline. Children develop strength in their muscles, coordination and control of their bodies. However, the outdoor learning environment has not been given the same level of consideration as the indoor areas. This means that children who prefer to learn outdoors are not afforded the same high-quality opportunities. There are, however, plans in place to develop and renovate the outdoor space.
• Parent partnerships are strong. Parents feel well informed about their child's progress because staff have daily discussions with them and use a 'link book' as a further communication tool. Parent meetings help to ensure that pertinent information is shared and collated. This impacts positively on the experiences of children, their learning and overall enjoyment when attending.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• embed, monitor and evaluate the new curriculum to ensure its effectiveness in improving outcomes for children
• help staff to consider how they can support children's independence and self-care skills
• implement plans to develop the outdoor learning environment.