Children's Corner Headingley Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are highly motivated and are deeply engaged in their learning. Staff form strong links with parents, including gathering information as part of children's inductions and settling-in sessions. Staff use this information to gain knowledge of children's strengths and interests. They apply their knowledge of what children already know and can do when supporting their learning. Children are offered purposeful and rich experiences. They enjoy time learning in the outdoor provision.

Children of all ages are happy, self-assured and confident. Staff have high expectations of all children. The curriculum is coherently planned and sequenced. Children gain a strong understanding of the world, as staff foster their enthusiasm to learn. For example, children grow their own plants and vegetables as part of a greenhouse project. They use magnifying glasses to look for minibeasts in the garden. They look for bees and learn about a wide range of insects, including what insects eat and where they live. Children confidently ask questions, including 'what do moths eat?' When staff do not know the answer they support children to use electronic tablets to search for the information together. Children demonstrate an excellent understanding of how plants grow. They talk confidently about plants needing soil, water and sun. They correct other children when they give plants too much water.

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

• A strongly designed curriculum is in place that helps to ensure that all children make superb progress. The manager and staff have a shared vision for what they want children to learn and achieve. For example, outdoor provision is a strength of the setting, where children have opportunity to have hands-on experiences and to develop their understanding of the natural world.
• Staff support children to develop strong communication skills. They ask children thought-provoking questions and encourage children to be inquisitive and problem solvers. They provide opportunities for children to develop their language. For example, children describe what the plants that they are growing look like.
• Staff support children to develop excellent mathematical skills. For example, children use positional language as part of a building project. During play dough activities, children discuss the shapes that they create using a range of utensils. Children count aspects of the play dough and share them fairly.
• Staff effectively support children to develop a strong understanding of healthy lifestyles. This includes discussions and stories focused on oral hygiene. Children brush their teeth as part of their daily routines while in the setting. Children eat healthy lunches and are able to identify types of healthy foods. Furthermore, children make connections between the vegetables that they grow in the nursery greenhouse and the vegetables that they eat as part of their healthy lunch options. Children revisit these healthy choices as part of their learning. For instance, children make pretend pizzas. They roll out play dough and cut out circular shapes. They name vegetables such as cucumbers.
• Children's physical development is supported very well. For example, children access a well-organised outdoor environment and use a wide range of resources. They demonstrate excellent social skills, as they work together to create large wooden structures and walk along this. Children demonstrate balance and coordination skills. Furthermore, they use real child-sized tools with excellent competence when planting in the greenhouse.
• Managers closely monitor the high-quality care and learning opportunities staff provide. They routinely observe staff teaching children and provide them with helpful feedback to support their future practice. Staff attend regular training and are proactive in keeping their knowledge up to date.
• The managers and staff establish positive partnerships with parents. A strong induction is offered, which provides parents with the opportunity to share information with the staff about their child. Settling-in sessions are also used to gain knowledge of children's strengths and interests. A parent app is used to communicate with parents to keep them up to date with what their child has experienced while at the setting.