Early Learning Steps Maidstone

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle well into this welcoming environment. They form strong relationships with their key person, often seeking a cuddle. Children behave well. They recognise the high expectations staff have of children's understanding about how to share and take turns. For example, they use sand timers to regulate how long they use a bicycle for, before passing it to a friend. Children confidently lead their own learning. They create obstacle courses to ride their bikes along, recognising when it is not safe and making changes. Children are happy and feel secure. They are confident that staff will keep them safe, and this helps to support their ability to engage with visitors. Children play a matching game where they independently take turns. Staff and children have fun together, happily choosing which clothes the doll should wear and where the furniture should go.

Children enjoy mark making, both inside and outside, and this helps to support their early writing skills, which are good in relation to their age and stage of development. They have fun using the cars to make marks with paint. Others use simple tools to cut, roll and make shapes in the modelling dough. Outside, children chalk and make patterns in the sand. Books are popular. Children of all ages snuggle up with an adult to share a book. Some use the books and resources to find out about the life cycle of a frog.

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

• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support, and staff work with parents and external professionals to meet their individual needs. Children who speak English as an additional language are well supported. Staff regularly share books and other resources with children that are in their home language and English. This helps them to develop their vocabulary in both languages.
• Parents speak positively about their partnerships with their child's key person. They are appreciative of the support and advice they receive to help their children at home, for example with potty training. The partnerships between staff and parents are strong. Communication between key persons and parents is good, and parents are regularly informed about their child's next steps.
• Children are encouraged to eat healthily. They know that sugary foods are bad for their teeth. Staff encourage children to manage tasks for themselves at mealtimes, such as opening their own sandwich packages and pouring their own drinks. However, at other times, staff do not consistently promote opportunities for children to do things for themselves.
• Staff work with parents to establish children's starting points when they join the setting. Children's key persons plan suitable activities which reflect all areas of the curriculum, to help children make good progress. Where delays in learning are identified, staff discuss these with parents and plan appropriate learning experiences to close these gaps. Staff seek external advice if progress continues to be slow.
• The manager holds regular meetings with staff to discuss their practice and identify their training needs. She observes their interactions with children and provides feedback to help them improve. The manager is ambitious. She has plans to improve the setting, such as re-organising the outside area to reflect all areas of the curriculum, to help support those children who prefer to learn outside.
• Children display good attitudes to learning and are focused on the engaging activities. They particularly enjoy observing the petals in the purple water and decide to use these to create pictures to take home. Children ride the different sized, age-appropriate bicycles and other ride-on-toys outside in the fresh air. This helps them to develop their balancing skills and to negotiate space safely.
• Staff develop positive working relationships with other settings children attend. They use a contact book to share information about children's learning, progress and care. On transfer to school, staff complete the transition document which informs the school about the child's learning and next steps. Teachers usually visit the children in the setting and speak to the key person. This helps to ensure consistency in children's education.
• Children have plenty of opportunities for open-ended play. They have fun running the cars down the ramps. However, staff do not consistently challenge children to problem-solve, for example by changing the height, or to develop their mathematical language to measure how far the cars travel.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more activities to support children's problem-solving skills and use of mathematical language
• ensure that staff consistently provide opportunities for children to develop their independence skills within routine activities.