Cobtree Playschool For Special Children

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited when they arrive. They happily say 'goodbye' to their parents and are keen to find their friends. Staff warmly welcome children and support them to choose what they would like to play with, which helps them to settle. At the start of the day, staff discuss children's well-being with parents, which enables them to adapt daily routines to accommodate any changes. For example, children who had breakfast very early in the morning are offered their snack soon after arrival. This positively promotes children's emotional and physical health.

Children successfully develop their communication skills and make good progress from their starting points. Staff use a range of ways to help children communicate and understand. Visual aids, such as picture cards and personalised timetables, help children to know what is coming next. Staff join in children's play and introduce new words such as 'squeeze' as they narrate what children are doing. This helps to prepare children well for their next stage in education.

Staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They are skilled at recognising when children are becoming restless and disinterested in the activities on offer. Staff use a range of effective ways to help children remain calm, such as watching bubbles from a bubble machine. Children behave well and are learning about rules and boundaries.

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

• Managers and staff forge strong, supportive relationships with parents. They value the importance of involving parents in their child's learning. This includes sharing ideas to support parents to build on learning at home.
• Staff work in close partnership with specialist agencies. This means children get the extra help they need to progress. Staff, parents and other professionals work together to tailor personal plans with individual targets to help children achieve their goals.
• Managers evaluate the quality of provision, which includes feedback from parents and other professionals. They observe staff's practice to identify areas for development. Staff meet together at the end of the day to discuss the effectiveness of the activities on offer. However, staff do not receive regular opportunities to meet with managers to reflect on their practice and discuss their individual coaching needs. This means that sometimes professional development is not precisely targeted to consistently raise the quality of teaching.
• Managers and staff know what they want children to learn during their time at the playschool. The curriculum is focused on all areas of learning and adapted according to the needs of the children present.
• Staff understand the individual needs of the children in their care. They skilfully use observations and the knowledge of children's expectations to plan small, achievable next steps. Furthermore, the next steps are shared with parents, so they can build on these at home. This helps to ensure consistency for children.
• Staff carefully consider the needs of children when planning the learning environment. They ensure that there is a range of activities to help each child make progress in their learning and development. For example, there is a balance between activities on the floor and on table tops, so all children can freely access and make choices in their play.
• Children enjoy accessing the many opportunities on offer. Staff plan activities that build on children's concentration. For example, children engage for a long time as they participate in a 'hello game'. Children respond positively to staff's requests, such as trying to sit quietly while waiting for their turn.
• Children are beginning to understand the expectations of behaviour. Staff know children well and put strategies in place to pre-empt any potential behaviour challenges. For instance, children choose when they have their snack. This helps children to remain calm. Furthermore, staff use a range of strategies to support children to be kind to others. For example, they gently remind children of rules, such as using 'kind hands'.
• Staff support children well through a range of transitions. For example, staff sing songs to inform children about changes, such as clearing away for snack. This helps children to understand what is coming next.
• Staff give children lots of praise and encouragement, which promotes children's self-esteem and confidence. They support children to keep trying, which helps to build their resilience.
• Staff are helping children to become increasingly independent. For example, they show children how to wash their hands themselves after a painting activity.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen and improve supervision arrangements to support staff's professional development needs to raise the quality of teaching even further.