Daisy Chain at Mytton Oak

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children get the best possible start in this exceptional setting. The outstanding range of experiences that are on offer to children ensure that children thrive and flourish, and they are ready for their educational journey. Pre-school children show great excitement and engage fully in their learning as they make their own paper. This is part of their ongoing topic on recycling. The highly engaging curriculum gives children further opportunities to develop their curiosity about the world around them. They visit the local castle on the bus and go to a nearby care home to visit the elderly residents. Football coaches and the animal zoo come into the setting. The outstanding curriculum is wide and varied. It further broadens children's knowledge and understanding. It helps them to understand the world around them and communities beyond their own.

The environment is calm and well resourced. The setting has a high emphasis on using natural resources. Children are eager to enjoy a range of activities that enable them to explore through their senses. Outside, babies enjoy playing in water that has citrus fruits floating in it to excite their sense of smell and taste. They show delight as they splash and squeal happily in the water. Staff model new words, such as 'splash' and 'splosh', and the babies eagerly try to copy them. The toddlers enthusiastically dig in the soil for real carrots and radishes. They carefully fill pots with compost and plant seeds. The vast range of experiences and textures enable children to learn in a variety of ways as they explore the valuable range of sensory activities.

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

• Managers and staff are passionate about their provision and the outcomes for all the children. Managers ensure that the exceptional curriculum is securely and consistently implemented. They continually monitor and evaluate the staff and the setting. Managers give staff focused and effective support to ensure that they are providing outstanding learning and care for children.
• Staff and children develop strong bonds. Staff know the children exceptionally well and support their individual needs. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and who speak English as an additional language receive targeted support to ensure that they make rapid progress in their learning and development.
• The children behave extremely well. Good behaviour is superbly promoted. Staff use visual aids to remind children about the rules of 'good sitting, good looking, and good listening'. This is reinforced throughout the day. The children follow instructions. For example, they help to tidy up the resources or change into their slippers after being outside. Staff praise the children constantly. This raises their self-esteem and supports them to manage their own emotions.
• Staff provide highly engaging activities, promoting children's skills across the seven areas of learning. Children are inspired and listen attentively as staff create excitement and intrigue. In a story about aliens wearing underpants, the children imagine what space is like. They use language such as 'dark', 'stars', 'Neptune', and 'the milky way'. Staff use visual aids to represent these things. Children and staff work together to create a wonderful scene for the aliens. Staff skilfully build on children's past learning about planets. The children listen intently and interact fully in the activity. They use new and challenging vocabulary and show enthusiasm as they to listen the story. This demonstrates how staff's outstanding teaching increases the children's love of books and stories and impacts on further developing children's learning.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Parents are eager to explain how the dedicated staff support their children's learning. Parents receive regular feedback daily, both verbally and through an online system. Older children have 'homework'. For example, the children decorated pictures of hands with henna patterns as they were learning about Diwali. This practice helps to further embed learning and involves parents in learning at home.
• Staff support physical play exceptionally well. Children of all ages have an inspiring and dedicated outside area. It is well resourced and enables the children to use their motor skills in a range of ways. Inside, the babies enjoy soft play, where they learn to climb and tumble in a safe way. Toddlers dance to music, walk on their tiptoes, and bounce to the music. Alongside their physical development, they use listening skills and 'freeze' when the music stops. The well-thought-out curriculum has a positive impact on children's physical health.
• The delicious home-cooked food helps to develop a healthy eating ethos. Children's well-being is superbly promoted. For example, staff tell the chef daily about the children's individual allergy and dietary needs. Mealtimes are social events. Children eagerly tell staff about their day, which gives them the opportunity to recall and reflect on their day. Staff sit with children to support them and help them to use cutlery and pour their own drinks, which further increases children's skills and promotes their independence.