Happy Kids Dalton

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff have close bonds with children and their families. They take the time to find out about each child's likes and dislikes. Staff provide activities that are familiar to children, which helps them to settle successfully. For example, children dig and build in the sandpit. The large outdoor area provides opportunities for children to explore. Children search for bugs in the sensory herb garden or make imaginative meals in the mud-kitchen area. They access a cosy reading area within a large tepee. Children enjoy sharing stories and playing with puppets. They build imaginatively with a selection of tyres, planks and boxes. Children roll cars along in tubes and use blocks to build homes for animals.

Children make good progress and gain a range of skills and knowledge that prepares them for their future learning. They learn to play cooperatively and to be considerate of others. While working together to make dough, children take turns to collect water from the dispenser. They listen to each other's ideas, such as suggesting they make biscuits, finding cutters and rollers. Staff ensure that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are well supported. They are sensitive to each child. Staff develop activities so that all children can join in and enjoy the experiences. Children's behaviour is managed well.

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

• Staff have good links with the local school, health visitors and local authority. They provide a community room within the setting that health visitors can use fortnightly. This supports the sharing of information, especially with regard to the progress check for children aged between two and three years and children who require additional support, such as children with SEND. Staff work closely with other professionals to ensure that children with SEND make good progress.
• Staff have good partnerships with parents and families. They support children who are new to the setting when they arrive. Staff show that they have a caring relationship, which helps children to explore the setting. Relationships in the setting demonstrate a positive and respectful culture. These positive relationships help children to engage in activities.
• The setting supports the local community in a variety of ways. For example, staff provide drop-in and stay-and-play sessions for parents. They are establishing a baby and toddler session, and they have supported the local authority's reading programme by the purchase of books, which have been given to parents. Staff also provide an open reading session to support parents with reading to their children. This contributes to children's early reading development and encourages a love of books.
• A strength of the setting is how staff support children's language development. Due to the local libraries being some distance for families, staff have developed a lending library for parents, which is easily accessible. Staff promote children's language development through their interactions with children. Parents appreciate the opportunity to borrow books to support children's learning at home.
• There is a clear programme of support for the staff. The provider evaluates staff practice through peer observations, video observations and appraisal meetings. Staff are given time to complete all relevant paperwork and feel supported by managers. However, the provider's monitoring of staff practice is not precise enough to extend the quality of education to a higher level.
• The management team has created a well-developed curriculum, which supports all children in the setting. However, although there is a clear curriculum intent, there are some inconsistencies in how staff implement this. Consequently, staff do not organise some daily routines as well as possible to fully support children's learning. For example, at times, children are not brought together for activities, and their learning is not consistently extended.
• Staff provide an environment that creates opportunities for children to explore all areas of learning. Staff think about how the setting can be inclusive. Children are encouraged to build and explore the varied resources in the outdoor area. They develop their gross-motor skills while painting with big brushes and by building with large tyres. Children develop their independence, such as when they collect water for themselves from the water dispenser.
• The setting has a good range of equipment, with ambitious aims to develop the large outdoor area and to create a warm and welcoming baby room.
• Parents are appreciative of the support staff give them, and they value the daily conversations. They say that children are all 'given the same opportunities' and feel that they can talk to staff at any time. Staff have open days to support children's learning at home. This has led to improved outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor staff practice more precisely to raise the quality of education to an even higher level
• enhance staff's understanding of how to implement the curriculum, to ensure that children's learning is consistently extended.