Cheeky Smiles Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in the setting. The youngest children clap with excitement as staff sing to them. They are inquisitive and confident to explore the well-planned environment. Older children show good levels of engagement in activities. They invite staff into their games and are confident to tell them what they must do to take part. When their friends approach the activity, they are welcomed and join in too.

Children behave well. They listen to and follow staff's instructions. They understand the setting's routines and, when requested, they promptly tidy away resources. Children have meaningful conversations with staff at lunchtime. Staff take account of these interactions and children's interests, including when they explore similarities and differences in each other's eye colour. Staff continue their discussions at circle time after lunch to involve all of the children.

Staff have transformed the outdoor area, giving children a wide range of opportunities to support their learning. Children use large blocks to make a bridge on which they carefully balance. They take part in running activities and carefully negotiate the space available to them. They diligently use pipettes to fill small buckets of water and use their imagination as they explain they are making a cake.

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

• Since the last inspection, the leadership and management team have worked hard to secure and embed improvements within the setting. They have implemented an effective system of support and training, which has helped to foster senior staff's confidence in their role. The deputy manager monitors staff performance closely and identifies where less experienced staff may need additional support. She puts plans in place to support them with mentoring and coaching to help develop their skills.
• Children are encouraged to be independent. Staff's effective planning of the environment provides children with a wide range of interesting activities from which to choose. Younger children are curious. They hold and manipulate a range of resources, including books and musical instruments. Older children confidently move between activities and choose if they want to play indoors or outside. They independently change their footwear with minimal support from staff as they get ready to go outdoors. Staff regularly check spaces used by children to ensure they are safe.
• Parents comment very positively about children's progress while attending the setting. They say that staff keep them regularly updated about children's experiences and achievements. Parents are fully included in any decisions made about additional support a child may need to help them to catch up. They comment on staff's high levels of consistency when managing children's behaviour, which has a positive impact on children's behaviour at home.
• Leaders and managers have successfully introduced a new approach to planning, which captures children's interest and high levels of engagement in activities. However, while children enjoy all the activities provided, staff do not consistently make the most of extending what children know and can do. For example, they do not inspire children's awe and wonder or introduce new vocabulary when spontaneous discussions take place about the weather.
• Children in the baby room build close relationships with staff and use them as a secure base from which to explore. Despite some staff being new to the setting, children quickly build relationships, secure in the knowledge that their needs are met. Staff are highly responsive to older children and their interests. They join in role-play activities and follow children's imaginative ideas. They notice those children who enjoy playing for extended periods with a favourite activity and introduce new elements, such as books and writing materials to enhance their learning.
• Staff engage older children in conversations and talk to them about what they are doing. They model language for younger children to hear. Where children hear other languages at home, staff find out from parents about the languages spoken. However, staff do not consistently provide opportunities for the youngest children to hear or develop basic words in their home language, for example to support them when transitioning between daily routines.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• raise staff's confidence and understanding of how to fully extend and inspire children's learning during activities
• provide consistent opportunities for those children who speak English as an additional language to hear and develop words in their home language.