Artemis Hastings

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and their families are warmly greeted at this friendly setting. Staff know children well and invite them to play. Children delight in jumping in puddles outside and pretending to be crocodiles, laughing with their friends. This supports children's social skills positively. Staff plan a range of activities based on children's needs and interests. For example, children enjoy making play dough cakes and staff skilfully support them to roll out the dough and count as they do it. Activities of this type effectively help to develop children's mathematical knowledge. Children enjoy making craft creations to celebrate Chinese New Year, talking with staff about their friends different cultures. This contributes to children's understanding of and respect for others.

Staff plan an ambitious curriculum. They ensure children build on skills throughout their time at the setting. For example, babies smile as they explore noodles, developing their fine motor skills. Older children maintain attention and concentration when squeezing pipettes to make bubbles. These activities help promote children's physical skills successfully. Staff have high expectations for children. They praise and encourage them frequently, celebrating their achievements. Babies are nurtured and content. This helps promote children's positive self-esteem and emotional well-being. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. All children make good progress.

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

• Children behave well. Staff encourage children with SEND to manage their behaviour positively. For example, staff use funding effectively to purchase resources to interest and engage them. Children enthusiastically join in with staff guessing what is in the 'wow' bag, excited to find out. This helps develop children's positive attitude to learning.
• Staff promote children's understanding of the world around them. They plan a range of local visits to support children's widening experiences. For example, they go to parks, the local library and Sea life centre. Children learn about their friends different cultures and talk about these respectfully. This helps children to learn about their local community.
• Staff make good use of the the opportunities presented at lunch time to promote children's independence. Children benefit from encouragement to do things for themselves. For example, staff support young children to learn to pour their own drinks. Older children serve themselves at lunchtime and share out cutlery. However, less consideration is given to staff deployment and expectations of children at these times. There are moments when children have to wait for slightly longer than they are able, and this begins to impact on their engagement and behaviour.
• Staff ensure children with SEND and their families access their full entitlement to support. They liaise closely with external agencies, settings and schools to support smooth transitions and are proactive in their approach. Staff create individual development plans to target learning. This ensures all children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff provide babies with regular cuddles and comfort to help them feel safe and secure. New babies settle well and form strong bonds with staff. Babies delight in joining in with familiar rhymes and songs, supported by kind and caring staff. This promotes babies communication and social skills effectively.
• Children are provided with activities to develop their mathematical understanding. For example, older children enjoy counting chopsticks and matching them to numbers. Children work together to use an interactive board to move different shapes. These activities promote children's learning well.
• Leaders and managers ensure staff are well supported. Staff work closely together to share information about children's next steps effectively so that they are well prepared for their next learning stage. Staff are encouraged to take on additional qualifications and training. They have effective processes in place for the recruitment and retention of staff. For example, they have effective links with other settings to share ideas to improve practice. Staff feel valued and enjoy their jobs.
• Communication with parents is strong. Leaders and managers work hard to ensure families access a range of services. For example, families are helped to access funding and support to help their children with toilet training and weaning. Staff offer home visits to ensure children settle well and provide detailed updates for parents to help them support their children's learning at home. Parents appreciate the flexible sessions offered and describe the setting as feeling like a family.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of mealtime routines to more fully support children's engagement and focus.