Greenway Kindergarten, Ashton Branch

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed warmly by the friendly staff. They arrive happily and are excited to spend time with staff and their peers. Staff form close bonds with children. Children are confident, and those who need reassurance receive it in abundance. This helps to enhance children's self-esteem. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. All children make good progress from their starting points, including those with special education needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and those who speak English as an additional language.

Leaders are passionate about all children achieving. They implement a curriculum that teaches children across all areas of learning, having high ambitions for individual children's progress. Management has a clear vision for the kindergarten and evaluates practice rigorously to ensure that staff continue to provide children with a high-quality service.

Staff supervise children well. They give children lots of praise, which motivates children to play and learn. Children are generally well behaved and follow the good examples set by staff. For example, they say please and thank you to the staff and their peers and know that they need to wait their turn during activities.

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

• Staff know children's needs well. They understand children's home lives, their starting points when they join and their progress over time. They use this knowledge to support children's learning and care needs to a high level. Staff identify gaps in children's learning swiftly and put plans in place to support these. All children make good progress.
• Staff plan exciting opportunities to develop children's understanding of science and maths. Pre-school children explore how coloured water can change the colour of flowers. Younger children explore how cress grows. Children follow instructions well and have opportunities to follow their own ideas and problem-solve. Children learn to recognise numbers and count proficiently. This gives them a firm base to build on their understanding.
• In the main, staff support children with their communication and language development. They repeat children's words and sentences to model correct pronunciation and add new words to extend their vocabulary. Staff continually talk to children about what they are doing and can see. Children respond to instructions, showing good understanding of spoken words. However, occasionally, staff use closed questions or do not follow children's interest by asking questions, which does not always extend children's communication skills.
• Children are supported to develop healthy habits and independence. At snack time, children chose from a range of healthy foods. Staff provide regular opportunities for children to access fresh air and exercise. Children are learning how to manage their own personal hygiene, recognising when they need the toilet and washing their hands independently. These opportunities help children to feel proud of the tasks they complete by themselves and help them develop healthy habits and attitudes from an early age.
• Overall, children behave well. They generally play cooperatively with each other, share and take turns with minimal support. However, when children do display unwanted behaviour, staff do not always explain why this is not acceptable. Consequently, children do not always build on their current understanding of good behaviour.
• Staff feel well supported, something which is evidenced by the high level of staff retention. Management ensures support is offered to any staff member who may need it. This results in a cohesive and experienced team that is well placed to help children acquire all the skills they need to help them in their future learning.
• Parents are very happy. They receive relevant information about their children's progress and any gaps in their learning. Several parents spoke of the gains that their children have made, both academically and in their personal development. They feel the kindergarten is family and state, 'It's like leaving your child with Grandma.' The strong partnership between parents and staff benefits children well.
• The provider failed to notify Ofsted of a significant event, which is a requirement of their registration. However, there was no impact on children's safety and welfare or learning and development as a result of this failure to notify. Leaders acknowledge this was an oversight and are now fully aware of their duty to notify Ofsted in the future.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to use open-ended questions and give children more opportunities to engage in two-way conversations to extend their communication skills even more
• support staff further to help children understand the impact their behaviour has on themselves and others and why some behaviours are not acceptable.