Berry Hill Under 5's Group

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and separate from their parents and/or carers with ease. They manage small tasks for themselves as they hang their belongings on a coat peg and put their lunchbox away in the refreshment area.

Children know the routines of the day and excitedly enter the play room to greet their friends and staff. Staff provide a wide range of good-quality resources that meet children's individual needs. Children make independent choices about their play. Some children choose to play in small groups as they fill and empty containers with sand. Children use their imagination as they feed and care for the dolls. They are kind and considerate and gently place them into a pushchair and pretend to take them for a walk. Children welcome others into their play and make space around the sand tray for their friends to join in.

Children behave well and understand what staff expect from them. They proudly participate in daily responsibilities, such as ringing the bell. Children explain to visitors that this means it is time to tidy up. They work as a team to put the toys away. Children respond well to the praise and encouragement from staff, who thank them for their help.

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

• The manager and staff work well together to provide good-quality care and education. They get to know children and their families well and use information about children's interests to plan a broad curriculum that supports them to make good progress from their individual starting points.
• Staff closely monitor children's progress and swiftly identify any children who need additional support. They work closely with parents to share ideas and support them to continue children's learning at home. Parents comment on the kind and caring support from staff during developmental transitions, such as potty training.
• Staff are good role models. They help children to learn table manners and sit with children to eat at mealtimes. Staff engage children in relaxed yet meaningful back-and-forth conversations, supporting children's communication and language skills. They talk about the food they eat and describe an orange as 'sweet and juicy'. Children are polite and say 'please' as they select milk or water, pouring it carefully from the jug into their cup.
• Staff provide children with opportunities to explore electronic devices such as laptops and tablets. Although this is supervised and staff limit children's screen time to ten minutes per session, they are yet to consider how these opportunities are used to support children's awareness of how to stay safe when using technology.
• Children are focused and engaged during group story time. They take turns each day to choose what story they would like staff to read. Staff naturally extend children's learning based on conversations that arise in the moment. Children comment that the puppy looks sad. Staff introduce more complex vocabulary. They explain what they can see in the illustrations, saying, for example, 'he is alone; he might be hungry or frightened'.
• Staff support children to develop a strong sense of self. They encourage children to talk about themselves and their families and what makes them unique. However, staff are yet to consistently provide children with enough experiences to learn about different cultures, beliefs and traditions in the wider world.
• Staff regularly take children to visit places of interest in their community, such as the church, post office and orchard. Children are very much involved in local events. For example, they recently attended a remembrance event for Armistice Day and contributed to a time capsule that was buried to commemorate the day.
• The manager and staff regularly reflect on their practice and consider what they can do better to further enhance outcomes for children in their care. The manager and staff team are currently considering ways to develop the outdoor area to enable children to grow fruit and vegetables and extend their understanding of where food comes from.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen opportunities to further support children's understanding of keeping themselves safe when using digital technology
• provide children with even more experiences to support their awareness of different cultures, traditions and beliefs in the wider world.