Blaydon Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy at this welcoming setting. They show that they establish positive relationships with the staff who care for them. For instance, children giggle during games of hide and seek, hiding behind trees and bushes in the large outdoor area. Children show that they feel secure as they snuggle up close and sit on staff's knees when listening to stories. In addition, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities show that they understand what happens next in the routine. Staff use effective strategies to support children to understand what is happening now and what will happen next. Children respond to rewards when achieving targets. This helps to develop children's self-esteem.

Children behave well. Staff are good role models for children. They use good manners and thank children for helping. For example, children help to set tables ahead of snack time and put their food waste in a bin. Children learn to pour their own milk and manage their self-care needs well. Staff encourage children to share and take turns. Children form positive relationships with one another and seek out others to share their experiences. Older children work together to create a large wooden train track in the pre-school room. Staff praise children and offer encouragement as they decide to make their track longer. This helps to develop children's confidence.

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

• Staff are vigilant and supervise children well. They complete regular risk assessments and address any potential hazards to children. Staff encourage children to join in with risk assessments, particularly during outdoor games. For example, children learn about fire safety as they sit around a fire and toast marshmallows. Children benefit from regular physical activity. This includes exciting sessions from an external teacher. Children gather natural resources to build their own dens. Staff follow their interests and support children to bind twigs and sticks together. Children show good levels of imagination as they talk about making a fairy garden.
• Children demonstrate good literacy skills. Staff sensitively join in with children's play and learning. They talk to children about the different marks they can see them making during craft activities. They encourage children to count and recognise the different shapes that they have made. This helps to develop children's mathematical skills.
• The manager is supportive of the staff team. Staff complete mandatory training and share ideas with each other on positive changes to the learning environment. The manager offers regular praise and spends time with staff to support their well-being. She regularly completes supervision sessions. Furthermore, she completes observations of practice. However, these are not fully effective to help her to identify and address emerging weaknesses in practice.
• Staff work in partnership with parents and share information about children's learning and development needs. They upload photographs and information on an online platform for parents and provide daily feedback. However, some strategies to engage parents are less successful. For instance, leaders and staff do not routinely gather parental views to help evaluate the quality of the setting and review the impact of key messages, such as healthy eating.
• Children engage well in their learning. They show a particular interest in exploratory play. For instance, children combine ingredients together to make their own play dough. Children use descriptive words such as 'sticky' as they cover their hands in the mixture. Children laugh as they jump to catch bubbles and join in with games in a sand tray.
• Children show an interest in stories, songs and rhymes. They join in with familiar stories and use props and puppets. Staff encourage children to join in with repeated rhymes and phrases. This helps to develop children's communication and language skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review performance management procedures to ensure that weaknesses in practice are swiftly identified and addressed to enable a continued improvement in teaching
• build on partnership working with parents to gather parental views to help evaluate the quality of the setting and review the impact of key messages, such as healthy eating.