Footprints Child Care Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff provide a welcoming atmosphere and promote children's learning well. Staff warmly welcome children as they arrive. They create a nurturing and supportive environment where children feel settled. Children arrive with smiles, eager to explore the engaging activities that staff thoughtfully plan to reflect children's interests. Staff provide individualised support for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). This helps ensure that all children make good progress from their starting points in learning.

Staff clearly communicate their high expectations to children and explain why certain behaviours are unwanted. As a result, children demonstrate good behaviour, use polite manners and take turns. Children are enthusiastic and eager to learn. They demonstrate confidence and are very independent. For instance, older children carry their lunch on plates to the table, and they wash their hands independently. Children enjoy playing outdoors. Staff make good use of the garden space and the new 'secret garden' area.

Staff work in partnership with parents very well. Parents are extremely happy with the care and learning opportunities provided. They are grateful to the staff for the help that they receive and the regular updates that are sent to them via an online portal. Parents regularly borrow carefully considered activity packs and storybooks to continue children's learning at home.

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

• Staff provide children with real-life experiences to enhance their learning further. They plan activities that spark children's interests. For instance, children delight as they take part in a bug hunt in the garden. Babies say 'quack, quack' as they recall a duckling egg-hatching experience. Children have opportunities to grow and harvest their own vegetables. This supports children's understanding of the natural world.
• Leaders and staff support children with SEND extremely well. They identify gaps in learning through assessments and discussions with parents. Staff make timely referrals and work in partnership with parents and other professionals to ensure that children receive targeted support. This helps children with SEND to receive the support they need at the earliest opportunity.
• Staff support children to develop good and confident communication skills. They provide a language-rich environment offering a range of opportunities for children to develop their speaking and listening skills. However, staff do not consistently use effective questioning techniques to help develop children's thinking skills and test out their understanding. At these times, staff do not build as precisely as possible on what children already know.
• Staff know the children well. They gather relevant information from parents when children first start about what children already know and can do. Staff plan appropriate next steps to help them achieve what they need to learn next. However, during group activities, some staff do not consistently adapt their teaching and recognise when to extend children's learning. This means that, on occasion, children's learning is not enhanced as effectively.
• Leaders work closely with the dedicated staff team to provide good quality provision for children. Regular supervision and team meetings take place. Staff are encouraged to engage with ongoing professional development opportunities to improve their practice. For example, recent behaviour management training has enabled staff to use different approaches to managing behaviour. Staff report that their well-being is given a high priority. This contributes to a positive and happy environment for children.
• Staff support children to develop positive attitudes that contribute to their good health. Children learn about oral hygiene through role-play experiences. They know that they should brush their teeth for two minutes as they listen to stories such as 'Going to the Dentist'. Babies positively engage as staff guide them in brushing their teeth as they sing the tooth brushing song. Children develop healthy lifestyles.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematics skills. Children learn how to recognise numbers. Staff encourage them to count the number of steps they take moving between different areas. Staff support children to recognise shapes within the environment. As a result, children are able to recognise and identify different shapes.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently encourage children to think further and explore their ideas during play
• support staff to recognise when they are able to extend children's learning further during group activities.