Backworth Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive a warm, nurturing, and friendly welcome when they arrive. They respond positively to staff and learn in a fun and safe place. Children are happy and settled and are eager to join in with activities. For example, they explore the different textures in coloured shaving foam and make fire engines using boxes, tape and paint. Effective settling-in procedures mean that new children settle in quickly. As children get older, they show high levels of confidence in social situations. For example, they are happy to talk to the inspector.

Children have secure attachments with key persons and other members of staff. Children behave well as staff are good role models. They learn to follow instructions and show that they understand what is being said to them. Children learn to be independent. When getting ready to go outside, they are encouraged to put on their own coats and shoes. Their efforts are often praised by staff, and children develop a sense of well-being. Children respond well to regular routines, such as tidy-up time. They help to put the resources away. The provider recognises the impact of COVID-19 on her team and places a high importance on staff and children's well-being.

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

• The provider has a clear vision for the nursery. She shows a reflective approach and can show clear intentions for the future. For example, there are plans to improve the outdoor area.
• The leadership team and staff know the children well. They have a clear understanding of their starting points and individual needs. This information is used to plan a well-balanced curriculum that helps children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make good progress in their learning. Staff share information effectively with professionals and other settings that children attend, to plan and achieve common goals in children's learning and development.
• The staff complete regular assessments of children's learning to check children's achievements. This helps them to find if there are any delays or gaps in children's development that they can address.
• Overall, activities and experiences planned for the children take account of their individual needs and interests. Children are welcomed into a well-organised environment. Resources are accessible for children to make their own choices about what they would like to do. However, during some planned activities, staff do not give enough consideration to the resources that they provide and whether these will help children to achieve successfully. For example, staff plan for children to learn how to cut fruit up with a knife, to develop their fine motor skills. However, the knives are blunt, and children struggle to cut up apples.
• Staff do not discuss with children how to use the knives safely.
• Staff's teaching does not always encourage children to think and work things out for themselves. For example, staff are quick to jump in and do things for children, rather than encouraging them to work out how to do it for themselves.
• Parents are positive about the setting and fully appreciate the efforts of staff to support their children and family. They feel that they know what their children do while they are there. Although parents do not enter the pre-school during the pandemic, staff discuss their children with them as they drop off and collect them. Parents have also recently attended a parents' evening. Staff share ideas with parents so that they can continue their children's learning and development at home.
• Staff develop children's interest and love of books. They read stories often to children throughout the day. For example, children listen to a story about being brave, they learn what it means. Staff pause during their reading to give children the opportunity to remember well-known phrases in the story and to talk about the pictures. This forms the very early stages of children learning to read.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more opportunities for children to extend their thinking skills so they can work things out for themselves
• strengthen staff's understanding of how to provide the right resources to successfully challenge children in their learning and development
• ensure that children learn how to use all equipment safely, such as knives when they help to prepare food.