Brookhill Children's Centre Creche

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The new management team are committed to providing high-quality care and education. They work closely with parents and other agencies to identity children's individual needs and help them settle quickly. The managers have adapted arrival and collection times with families following the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic restrictions. They have carefully planned hand over sessions as parents are unable to enter the building. As a result, children arrive happy and eager to learn. Children follow the safety processes put in place. For instance, young children follow handwashing rules and independently find their pegs and hang up their bags and coats. Staff have high expectations for what children can achieve in the setting. They observe children and follow their interests. Staff maximise learning opportunities in all weathers, which captures children's attention and builds on their learning. For example, staff discuss the sound of thunder and encourage children to listen intently outside. Children are captivated as they catch rain in their hands and containers. Staff discuss the changes rain makes to the environment with children. This helps build on their language skills. Children's behaviour is good. They listen and respond to instructions given verbally or through the visual timetable. Staff are supported well in their roles. Although managers have not provided some specialist training as quickly as they could. This would raise the quality of teaching and learning even further.

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

• Staff know what their key children need to learn next and plan activities to support their learning. They focus on providing activities to help young children develop their social skills and vocabulary. For instance, during snack time children choose their fruit as staff talk about the benefits of making healthy choices. As a result, children have a good understanding of how to keep healthy.
• The new management team provide staff with a good level of support. They use room observations, team meetings and supervision to identify areas of development. Staff are confident about sharing suggestions regarding their professional development. Managers identify training needs to help raise the quality of practice. However, some staff would benefit from specialist training to further raise the quality of their practice.
• Staff work well with other professionals, such as speech and language therapists and health visitors, to provide appropriate support for children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. They use additional funding successfully to support individual children's developmental needs. For example, staff have created a sensory room to enable children to receive one-to-one sessions that focus on supporting their individual next steps. As a result, children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff teach children about life cycles through practical experiences. Children enjoy digging and planting which helps build on their motor skills. They plant seeds and take them home to extend the learning. Older children delight in retelling their experience when they point at photographs. This helps children understand how things grow.
• Children move freely between the inside and outside area, which provides them with regular access to learn in the fresh air. Staff are developing the outside space to help children to keep active. Children skilfully ride bikes and use the climbing bridge. They enjoy opportunities to use the parachute and listen well. Their behaviour is good. For instance, children follow adult instructions and run around and under the parachute. This helps children develop their concentration and physical skills.
• Staff use strategies, such as musical instruments and props, that help children respond to questions in ways that support them to develop their ideas and thoughts. For example, they ask the children to name the animal they are holding before they sing the next part of the song. However, staff do not always allow time for quieter children to respond to questions during smaller group times.
• Parents speak very highly of the provision. They feel that they have been given detailed information about their children's progress. They receive regular information and resources to help them extend their child's learning at home. For example, they receive educational bags for home learning. During the pandemic, parents have appreciated the food parcels, telephone calls and special sessions on zoom. This has helped to improve families' well-being and provide ongoing home learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide even greater focus on giving time for all children to respond to questions during group activities
• maximise arrangements for staff to access wider professional development opportunities.