Chesterton Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children and parents receive a warm welcome on arrival. Staff provide a calm and nurturing environment, which enables children to feel safe and secure. Children settle quickly and demonstrate their strong bonds with their key person. Staff know children extremely well and are attentive to their needs. They provide cuddles, offer reassurance and give praise. As a result, children are confident to explore and show a positive attitude to their learning.

Physical development is supported well at the setting. Children enjoy playing in the outside area, running, riding the tricycles and balancing carefully on the equipment. Inside, children make marks for a purpose with a range of resources. Older children learn to cut with scissors competently and are starting to identify and write their own names. They have fun modelling and rolling the dough as they develop use of their hand muscles. Children are confident, overall, behave well and are showing readiness for their next stage in learning and for school.

Children have many opportunities to learn in an enjoyable and engaging way. For example, after children show an interest in dinosaurs, staff set up exciting opportunities for them explore and extend their learning outside. Staff use many descriptive words to help increase children's vocabulary. For example, they discuss how 'lava flows' from the volcano and how some dinosaurs were plant eaters called 'herbivores' and others were meat eaters called 'carnivores'.

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

• The leadership and management team has a clear vision for the setting and is always looking to improve where needed. The team supports the staff extremely well through regular supervisions and looks out for their well-being. Staff speak highly of the management team and say they enjoy working at the playgroup.
• Staff help children develop a love of books. For example, children choose books to take home and share with their families, and children have cosy spaces to relax in and read books. This supports children's early literacy skills well.
• An effective key-person system is in place. All staff have a good knowledge and understanding of the children in their care. Managers and staff monitor children's progress successfully. They accurately identify aspects of children's development where they need additional help and implement targeted support.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Parents speak positively about the care their children receive. They feel that their children's needs are met and that they progress well in their learning. Parents appreciate the opportunity to borrow a range of resources to support children's continued learning at home.
• Although staff have a clear vision for the intent of their curriculum, they do not implement this as successfully as they could during adult-led activities. For instance, staff do not fully consider how to make the best use of the environment they have created, including the activities outside which have been planned to support the children with colour, shape and number. Children have fun and dig in the sand but opportunities to support their maths development are missed.
• Partnerships with other settings are strong. For example, staff work well with the neighbouring school and meet regularly with the foundation teacher. Children attend transition visits to the school with the playgroup staff. This helps children to settle well into the known surroundings of school when they first start.
• Overall, children are independent and behave well. Staff encourage children to do things for themselves, such as peeling fruit at snack time. Older children are competent in unwrapping their lunches and feeding themselves. Staff help children to learn how to share and take turns. However, children who find it harder to sit at routine times, such as mealtimes, are not consistently encouraged by staff to remain at the table at snack time and lunchtime.
• Regular local visits into the community support children's understanding of the area in which they live. Cultural differences are explored through discussions and celebrations. For example, children recently celebrated Chinese New Year and they take part in National Storytelling Week. Children understand their own uniqueness and the fact that not everyone has the same beliefs and cultural traditions.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• refine the planning of adult-led activities and ensure that the intent for the curriculum is consistently implemented in practice
• ensure staff are consistent in their approach to behaviour strategies for children who may find it more difficult to sit at routine times, such as lunchtime and snack time.