Go Outdoors Childcare & Holiday Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children share their environment with rabbits at this stimulating outdoor provision. In the mud kitchen children mix natural ingredients to bake cakes. They talk about adding sand to the mud and grass to make it stickier. This is developing their imaginative and communication skills. As children hunt for bugs, they are learning about the natural world. They use pens to mark in the box when they find an insect and look to see what they need to find next. This supports their reading and writing. Children enjoy snuggling in the den with adults to look at storybooks together. They are developing a love of reading.

The behaviour of children is excellent because staff have high expectations of them. Children understand the routine. They run for carpet time when they hear the outdoor bell ring. They consider their friends and shout to those a little further away who may not have heard. Children are encouraged to manage their own risks and to have a go with adult support. This helps in building their confidence and resilience. Children are learning how to keep themselves safe by putting helmets on to ride the bikes. They ride and control confidently while avoiding obstacles, which supports their physical development. At the water tray they fill containers using syringes. This is supporting their fine motor skills ready for writing.

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

• The nursery manager has extensive forest school experience. She is creating an environment that offers children a wide range of learning opportunities through a richly planned curriculum. The key-person system ensures secure relationships between children and adults. Each child's key person carefully considers their next steps and interests within their planning. As a result, all children are making good progress in all areas of learning.
• Leaders have a clear vision and plan for the provision. They understand what is working well and areas for further development. Staff well-being is important to leaders. Staff say that they have a manageable workload and they feel valued and supported. Leaders also make good use of additional funding to support children's interests and meet individual needs. For example, they purchase road signs to support children to learn about road safety.
• Children are developing resilience and independence through a wide range of experiences and opportunities. For example, they must learn to use the swing independently with their own movements. This supports their physical development and coordination. However, staff do not consistently support the oldest children to understand what is expected of them during group circle times and adult-led activities. This does not help children to acquire the listening and attention skills they need for school.
• The special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) is highly motivated and knowledgeable. She is supported by the senior manager who previously held this role. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. The provision works closely with other professionals and parents to support children with SEND. As a result, all children are being given the opportunity to achieve to their fullest potential.
• Following the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, children are closely monitored for speech and language delay. Early identification results in children being referred, if required, to additional services. Early intervention is also put in place to support their development. As a result, children are making good progress with their communication skills.
• Leaders have strong links with local schools. Headteachers recently visited for a transition stay-and-play to meet families. The provision has identified that phonics is offered differently in each of the schools. As a result, there is not a specific scheme of work that they are working with and they are focusing on letter sounds. However, not all staff are appropriately trained to support children with phonics activities. Consequently, there are inconsistencies with how they are delivered. For instance, not all staff model the correct pronunciation of initial letter sounds. This hinders children's early literacy development.
• Parents describe the staff as 'brilliant' and 'approachable'. They comment that the communication with staff is excellent. Parents say that children settle quickly and are growing in confidence. Their children love being outdoors all the time and are making excellent progress. Children have learned to ride bikes while at the provision, and staff have supported children with areas such as toilet training.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support older children's attention and listening skills further as they prepare to move on to the next stage in their learning
• support staff to access appropriate training when delivering phonics activities to support children's literacy development further.