Blandford Opportunity Group

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this extremely welcoming and supportive group. They are very settled and safe. Children develop very positive attitudes to others and interact happily in their play. They readily reach out to staff for a spontaneous cuddle or supporting hand. Staff clearly value each child's individuality and have a strong commitment to supporting all children to achieve. They provide a curriculum that enables all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, to make excellent progress from their starting points.

Children gain very good self-esteem and confidence in their play. They are motivated to learn through exploration and curiosity. For example, they show clear delight as they reach out to touch the sparkly lights of a sensory bubble lamp. They are keen to use the voice- or touch-activated resources that initiate colourful patterns of soft lights or sound. Children watch fascinated as these reflect on the walls around them. Children like singing counting songs together and develop an early awareness of number. They help staff to count how many 'little speckled frogs' are left 'sitting on a speckled log'. Children strengthen their hand-to-eye coordination skills, such as when pouring water in and out of containers, or filling and emptying buckets of sand. They have great fun splashing in the water tray or playing peekaboo in the outdoor playhouse.

The management team and staff supported children and their families extremely well during the COVID-19 pandemic. Parents spoke very positively about the continual contact that staff kept with them and how this helped their children's learning and well-being.

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

• The management team and staff continually reflect on their practice to ensure they support all children's needs at the very highest level. They have successfully extended and reorganised the play areas to provide further inspiring learning opportunities for children, such as a wider range of stimulating sensory experiences.
• The experienced staff gain an exceptional understanding of the needs of all children's care, learning and development. For example, in liaison with parents and other involved agencies, they have motivated children to gain better mobility, and enable their exploration of play further.
• The management team is highly effective at encouraging staff to develop their knowledge and skills. Staff continue to attend training, such as to raise their understanding of children's cognitive development in more depth, and how to manage different levels of trauma in their lives.
• Partnership with parents is exceptionally strong. Parents spoke extremely highly of staff, reporting very positively about the support they provide for their children and families in many ways.
• Staff are highly skilled at supporting children to manage their emotions and develop positive social skills. Staff maintain a calm, reassuring environment. They clearly understand when children need time to sit quietly in their self-chosen place to help them feel safe and begin to self-regulate their feelings. Children play cooperatively and start to form positive relationships with their friends.
• Children benefit from a range of stimulating play experiences and routines that support their physical well-being very well. They gain the confidence and determination to develop their strength and movement. Younger children concentrate very well to pull themselves up to standing. They start to cruise around the furniture to explore the resources. Older children like to climb up, on and over the climbing frame and they then smile with delight as they whizz down the slide.
• The management team and staff provide excellent support for all children as they move onto school. The management team liaises with parents, schools and related agencies significantly well to ensure all children receive the continual support they need to help them achieve.
• Staff are highly skilled at promoting all children's communication and language. They provide the resources to enable each child to communicate their needs. For example, children gain the confidence to use language to express their needs or use specialised picture cards to help them make choices in play and to recognise what is happening next.
• Children learn extremely well through a range of exciting, purposeful play activities. Younger children eagerly move their arms and pretend to 'wind up a bobbin' and stretch out to 'point to a door' on hearing the cues from a favourite song. Older children smile with delight and anticipation as they lie down and pretend to be asleep, and then excitedly jump up and try to hop like rabbits.
• Staff welcome and value each child with an extremely caring and supportive approach. They give a very strong focus to promoting inclusion and help all children to develop a sense of self-esteem and belonging within the group.