Farlea Childcare (St. Josephs)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy in this child-centred setting. They engage in activities and play well with their friends. The curriculum is broad and well balanced, and children enjoy the wide range of experiences on offer. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress from their starting points. Staff plan activities around children's interests and focus their teaching to support any gaps in learning. For example, children enjoy playing in the water. Staff capture this interest and provide drainpipes, jugs and buckets for children to fill and pour the water. Children excitedly watch and squeal as the water cascades down the pipes. They work together to lengthen the pipes and make the water go even further. This engages children well and supports them to work together, experiment and gain an understanding of how things work.

Staff are caring and kind to children. They develop strong bonds with them and their families. This helps children to feel safe and secure and they willingly invite staff into their play. Staff promote positive behaviour strategies and manage children's behaviour and emotions well. For example, they explain to children why it is important to share and to consider the needs of others. Staff quickly distract children to ensure unwanted behaviours do not escalate. This helps children to behave well and learn what is expected of them.

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

• Managers and staff have a strong ethos for the setting. They want to ensure children are independent and school ready. Children quickly learn the routines of the day, which gives them confidence and emotional security. Even the younger children show their independence early on. They open yogurt pots, take any leftover food to the bin and put on their coats before going outdoors. Staff help to build on children's knowledge and ensure they are ready for the next stage in their learning journey.
• Leadership is strong. Managers complete regular supervisions and observations of staff's practice and make sure they monitor staff's well-being. Staff say that they receive meaningful support and can rely on managers for help and guidance. Staff have opportunities for ongoing professional development. Managers set training goals and staff also independently access training online. Any training completed is fed back to the team during staff meetings to ensure everyone keeps their knowledge and skills up to date.
• The rich and varied environment allows children to develop a full range of skills across all areas of the curriculum. Children have vast opportunities to develop their physical skills. For example, when outdoors, they use their large muscles as they run, swing and balance on a range of equipment. They develop their small muscles as they dig in the sand or stir and pour in the mud kitchen. Indoors, children use their hand-eye coordination as they fill and empty pots of compost. Staff promote children's imagination and creativity in the art area as they encourage children to create their versions of butterflies.
• Staff skilfully create excitement in their storytelling. Staff read the familiar story of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar'. Children recall the words and anticipate the next page. They shout out, 'He's still hungry,' as the story continues. This helps children to develop a love of books and literacy.
• Staff role model good language skills. They ask children open-ended questions and narrate their play. Children hear a range of vocabulary. For example, staff introduce words such as 'cocoon' when talking about caterpillar life cycles. However, on some occasions, staff ask too many questions and do not give children time to process their thoughts to reply.
• The setting works well with parents and families. They use an online system to give information about children's development. Staff encourage parents to add 'wow' moments and pictures from home. They invite parents to regular stay- and-play sessions, where they can discuss their children's development and goals for the next term. This supports the setting-home relationship and ensures continuity for their child's learning.
• Staff encourage children to make healthy choices. They talk to children about foods that are healthy and provide healthy snacks. Parents provide packed lunches and staff give them guidance in providing healthy lunch boxes. Activities such as making fruit kebabs help staff reinforce the message of making healthy choices as they discuss different fruits. Staff support children to develop good self-care as they encourage them to go to the toilet and wash their hands independently.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's skills in recognising when children need more time to process their thoughts and information to be able to respond.