Fallodon Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly welcome children and their families into the playgroup. The children enter happy and enthusiastic to learn. They become excited as they tell the staff all about their summer holidays. This shows that children form positive attachments with key persons, which supports them to feel safe and secure. Staff offer children lots of praise and reassurance. This builds children's confidence and self-esteem.

Children demonstrate positive attitudes to learning and happily try out new things. For example, during an activity, the children want to join two bits of paper together. Staff demonstrate how to use a hole punch. The children place the paper under the hole punch and push it down. They giggle and laugh when they see it makes two holes. Staff provide the children with treasure tags for them to thread through the holes. They encourage the children to keep on trying and not to give up. This develops children's resilience and creates a can-do attitude to learning.

Children love to act out everyday experiences and routines. For example, in the role play area, the children explore the pretend food. They talk about the different food, debating what is healthy. The children decide to make strawberry jam. They work together to create a shopping list. Staff remind the children that, 'You can't eat the green part of a strawberry.' The children learn to manage their risks as they tell each other to be careful because the oven is hot.

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

• The manager has a clear understanding of what she wants children to learn. The curriculum is a blend of adult-led and child-led play that aims to cover all seven areas of learning. Staff provide children with a wide range of activities aimed at sparking their curiosity and interest. They observe the children during their play to gain an understanding of what children already know. Staff interact at key moments to support the children in the next stages of learning. However, during group activities, staff do not consistently support children who are new or less confident to participate, while encouraging more confident children to wait and be aware of the needs of their new peers.
• Children show they feel comfortable communicating with others. Staff support children's language through stories and rhymes. They repeat words back to children using the correct pronunciation. This helps children to form words correctly and develop their vocabulary. Children use mathematical language and concepts during play. For example, they use scissors to cut play dough in half and count how many pieces they now have.
• Parents praise the manager and her team for the amazing job they do each day. They receive support and guidance on things, such as potty training, new siblings and fussy eating. Staff send home ideas and activities to support learning at home. Parents benefit from a lending library containing books, toys and games. Parents currently drop children off in the gated garden. While waiting to enter, children play and explore the toys with their siblings. This supports those younger siblings to feel safe and confident when they start the playgroup. Parents comment that the playgroup is a key part of the community and that the staff show real care for the families who attend.
• Children's behaviour is good. Staff support children to manage their feelings and behaviour by setting clear rules and boundaries. They teach children to talk about how they feel and discuss how their actions affect others. Staff encourage children to take turns and share resources. They model good behaviour and respect. This supports the children to develop good manners and respect for others.
• Staff encourage children to be independent in completing certain tasks, for example going to the toilet, tidying up and hanging up their coats. However, during snack time, staff carry out tasks which children could do for themselves, such as spreading butter onto their crackers, cutting fruit and pouring their drinks.
• Children's mental health and well-being are a priority. They participate in 'mindful minutes', where they use breathing techniques to calm their minds. The children enthusiastically engage in daily outdoor play. They experiment with many different ways to move their bodies in a large space, with opportunity to climb, balance, run, jump, chase and build. This builds strong muscles and has a positive impact on their health and well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• further develop children's independence skills, particularly at snack time
• further support children who are new, or with less confidence, to participate in group activities.