Ducklings @ Monkston Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show excitement and joy as they run into the pre-school and meet their friends and staff. They separate easily from their parents and are keen to join an activity.

Children enjoy an inviting and spacious environment that is well resourced and organised. Staff ensure that this is ready for children to explore and discover a variety of learning opportunities. For example, children begin to learn to follow instructions from a play dough recipe. They look at the instructions and learn to measure and mix the ingredients.

Staff offer a wide variety of activities and resources. They keep in mind the needs and interests of all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children learn to make choices and move with confidence as they choose where and what they would like to play. They particularly enjoy outdoor play in the snow. Children make tracks with their feet through the snow, following each other as they make patterns.

Staff support and guide children in developing good attitudes to learning. They celebrate and praise children's achievements. Staff engage with children as they play and follow their interests. Children learn to use language to express their thoughts and feelings, identifying when they are sad and what they can do to feel better.

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

• The provider has high ambitions for all children and adapts the curriculum to meet the needs of children with SEND.
• Children benefit from meaningful learning across the early years foundation stage curriculum. Staff reflect on what children know and can do and how they can support children to build on their next steps.
• Children benefit from a language-rich environment, where staff offer a range of activities and resources that support communication and language development. For example, children particularly enjoy storybooks and rhymes. They participate in predicting what will happen in familiar and favourite stories.
• Staff present information clearly to children, promoting discussion. They communicate well with the children and offer a running commentary on what they are doing. At times, they provide a lot of information in quick succession, and children do not have time to process information before new information is offered. Staff understand the areas of learning they teach and the way in which young children learn. However, at times, they do not give adequate time for children to recall and apply what they have learned previously to help them form an answer.
• Children demonstrate their positive attitudes to learning. They enthusiastically engage in activities with staff and peers. Children focus and concentrate on their chosen activities, listening to their friends and instructions from staff. For example, children work together to explore and discover a range of resources and activities in the sensory den. They talk about the different textures, lights and sounds they see and hear.
• Staff nurture and build relationships with children and parents that are positive and respectful. Parent's comment on the close relationships their children have with their key person and how well staff know their children.
• Staff provide effective care practices that support children's emotional security. For example, practitioners teach children the language of feelings, helping them to appropriately explore and understand their emotions.
• A good key-person system helps children form secure attachments with all staff, and this supports their well-being and independence. However, overall, there are inconsistencies in the support for children to develop their independence. While some staff recognise the opportunities that arise to encourage children to master new skills, such as putting on their coats, others complete these tasks for children.
• Children learn the importance of healthy lifestyles through the provision of healthy snacks and a range of opportunities for physically active play. Staff give clear, consistent messages to children that support healthy choices around food, rest and exercise. Staff demonstrate how they support children to stay safe online and how they work with parents to share the message.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the arrangements to promote children's independence, to provide a greater consistency
• support staff to understand the importance of allowing children time to process information and formulate an answer to questions posed.