Burrough Green Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with happy faces and are greeted by staff, who know them well. Children have adapted readily to changes in routines due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic. They leave their parents at the gate and eagerly join in with the exciting activities planned for them. Children jump and squeal with delight as they join in with the dance and movement session.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning. They show good levels of concentration and enjoyment. For example, when children are painting their hands to make a picture, they completely focus on making sure that every bit of their hand is covered in paint before printing them. Children know the consistent rules and boundaries. They understand the need to take turns and share popular resources. Children use sand timers as a visual prompt to remind them when their turn is over.

Children feel happy and safe. Staff form good relationships with the children, and their families. Children actively seek staff out for support, such as help with putting on their coats or wellington boots. Children enjoy talking to staff about their families as they eat lunch together. All children have a real sense of belonging.

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

• The manager works closely with parents and other professionals to ensure that all children make good progress. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have positive experiences in this playgroup. The use of additional funding is planned well to ensure the most vulnerable children are fully supported to make the best possible progress.
• The manager is passionate about her role and knows the children and staff. Staff work well together and report that they feel valued as part of a team. This effectively supports their motivation and well-being. The manager recognises staff's strengths and areas for development. She uses these to plan meaningful supervision and training. Staff access training courses to enhance their teaching skills, such as how to better support boys' play and learning.
• Children develop their physical skills as they run and play outside. They have a growing awareness of their own abilities. Children competently ride tricycles around the playground using their feet and pedals. They enjoy transporting toys around in pull-along carts. Staff appropriately support children during riskier activities, such as stacking small tyres when making towers.
• Children benefit from a well-planned curriculum. Staff regularly observe children and assess their development. They use this information to plan activities to enhance children's learning. However, they overlook some opportunities to challenge children's thinking and extend their learning further.
• Staff pay attention to supporting children's speech and communication skills. During activities, staff continually talk to children, adding in new words, such as 'gooey' and 'squidgy' and asking questions. Children demonstrate their increasing vocabulary and use more complex words, such as 'ingredients', when pretending to make cakes out of play dough. Staff encourage children to communicate their needs when they become frustrated and remind children to 'use their words' to tell others how they feel. Staff take time to listen to children's thoughts and ideas, and sensitively repeat back sentences to discretely correct the pronunciation of words.
• Parents are extremely happy with the service provided. They describe how their children are always happy to go to playgroup. Staff use a software program to share observations, photos and information about the children's day with parents. Parents report that they are pleased with the progress their children are making and feel 'lucky' to have found this playgroup.
• Children, generally, behave well. Staff have consistent expectations of their behaviour. When children disagree, staff have a calm approach to help children understand their emotions. This helps children to learn how to regulate their own behaviour. When children behave well, staff praise them for being kind. Children are self-assured and independent. For example, they confidently choose resources and ask staff to join in with their games.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the teaching skills of staff to help them make the most of opportunities to promote children's developing thinking skills and extend their learning experiences.