Explorers Elm Park

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are truly at the heart of everything in this setting, which is extremely well organised and resourced to provide magical play areas for all children. Children are independent as a result and anything they imagine they can do. Older children decide to build a bridge out of blocks and carefully look at pictures of bridges and discuss what theirs will look like. Children happily separate from their parents and are welcomed by their friends and staff. They become deeply engaged in their learning as they explore their interesting environment. Staff offer a curriculum that sparks children's learning and curiosity and promotes their physical skills, social skills and rich language opportunities. For instance, children regularly take part in science and cooking sessions, where they predict, anticipate and experiment.

Babies are expert communicators and, for example use sign language to ask for water. They share and take turns as they look at farm animals. Staff weave children's love of literacy throughout the setting. Pre-school children act out a story that they wrote themselves. Staff make every conversation a learning opportunity for children. Children learn about which country their fruit has come from. Staff weave mathematical concepts into children's play naturally. For instance, children thread fruit onto a skewer and discuss the size and shape.

Children are extremely well behaved. From the baby room to the pre-school room, they consistently show respect for each other. Children are taught calming techniques to independently calm themselves down or solve a problem if they need to. They are highly motivated and demonstrate high levels of self control. For example, when a friend gets too close or takes a toy of theirs, they ask for help.

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

• Staff have high expectations for each child. The impact of this is that all children make exceptional progress at each stage of their development. Staff place a priority on each child's personal development. Children leave each room in the setting as confident children who are ready for the next step in their learning.
• Every child in the setting can communicate through actions or verbally. Staff teach all children to use sign language so that they can communicate from the baby room all the way to the pre-school room.
• Staff encourage empathy throughout the setting, which children demonstrate. Staff model empathy to children and, as a result, they are kind and caring towards each other. Older children help younger children do up their coats. Children pass food around the lunch table, sharing and dishing up for themselves. They also wash their plates after eating.
• Children are deeply engaged in activities and routines. They transition seamlessly from one activity to another. Staff make sure that everything that children do has a purpose and that they are learning at every turn.
• Children are valued. They are given choices and vote to have their say. Children are learning about tolerance of others. They share and take turns and are happy for others to join in their play.
• Children are exposed to a wealth of rich experiences, such as links with the community. Babies take daily walks to the park to visit the ducks. They come back to the setting and talk about what they saw on their walk. Children are exposed to a range of sessions to enhance their learning, such as sports sessions, music and movement sessions and daily cooking and science experiments. Children visit the library, the greengrocer and the flower shop. They learn about their community and different occupations.
• Children have opportunities for developing physical skills, such as through weekly visits from a sports coach. Babies take part in rhyme time, which also focuses on developing their physical skills.
• Children display positive attitudes to their learning and listen with intent to instructions. They are excellent listeners. As a result, children have a deep understanding of instructions and expectations. They take turns in conversations and are aware of the feelings of others.
• Parents share their aspirations for their child within the setting. They say that staff support children over and above what they would have expected. Some parents say that they will not move out of the area because their children are so happy in the setting.
• The manager is inspirational. She values her staff and ensures that they are part of any progress or change. Staff respect each other and model this to the children. The manager is sensitive to ensuring the utmost safety of children and staff. Staff use unfortunate events as a learning opportunity for the whole team. They identify and quickly deal with any issues.
• Professional development is a priority for the manager and her team. Staff complete all compulsory training and also attend a variety of other professional development courses to positively impact practice, such as safer sleep and healthy eating training.