Harcourt Preschool Co-Op

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish through warm, welcoming and positive relationships with staff. Staff cherish the opportunity to support children to learn and develop through inviting and thoughtful activities. Additionally, staff value home visits before children start at the setting. This helps them to learn about children's interests and show them the activities they might experience to help their transition. Parents benefit from this effective partnership and feel confident to share children's experiences from home. Parents feel extremely happy with the care and learning experiences their children receive.

Children behave well. They build secure and trusting relationships with their peers. Children learn how to take turns, collaborate and respect each other. For example, children learn how to use timers independently to take it in turns to jump on the trampoline. They giggle as they wait for their turn. Children freely develop a sense of time through these strategies. They explore what a minute feels like as a way of measuring how long it will be until their turn.

Children have access to an outdoor provision that enables them to make independent choices. They enjoy a range of opportunities to develop their gross motor skills. For example, when playing in the garden, they joyously swing from a rope swing, kick balls and ride scooters down the path, navigating obstacles. Staff are well trained to manage children's safety in the garden. They take registers on arrival at the garden and then on departure. This ensures all children are safe and present. Children enjoy listening for their names and responding when it is their turn in the register.

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

• Leaders organise the curriculum to ensure children have positive opportunities to learn and develop. For example, leaders value independence as part of the core values of the curriculum. Children choose what resources they need to support them with their learning. They take responsibility for jobs at snack time and help organise and tidy the setting each day. As a result, children make good progress to become independent through the consistent routines.
• Children learn how to make healthy choices to fuel their body. Staff support children to understand nutrition through reading stories, exploring food and discussing their likes and dislikes in group times. Children then explore this in their play to practise their understanding. As a result, children learn how to keep their bodies healthy and to make healthy choices as they grow and develop.
• Children demonstrate their excellent progress in communication and language through meaningful conversations with staff. Staff and children sit together at lunchtime and enjoy discussing their thoughts, ideas and interests from their day. Children discuss their choices of food in their lunchbox, review what they have experienced in the day and what they would like to do next. Staff carefully extend and scaffold children's language to know more and remember more, through careful commenting and questioning.
• Staff support children to regulate their emotions through sensitive interactions and guidance. For example, children spend time threading beads on a 'feelings tree'. Children choose colours that represent their feelings. This helps them to develop the regulation strategies and emotional literacy they need to make good progress in their personal, social and emotional development.
• Leaders are highly committed to inspire their team to achieve the very best for the children and their families. Staff benefit from reflective meetings every Friday to discuss children's progress. They use this time to organise and plan for effective learning opportunities based on observations from the week. For example, staff carefully use this time to research how to introduce children to the concept of nutrition, including the books and vocabulary they will use to support children's understanding. This helps to ensure that children receive well-targeted activities that enable them to learn and develop well.
• Staff do not always support children to start toilet training as promptly as they could. This causes delay for some children transitioning from nappies to using the toilet. As a result, these children experience a delay in achieving key milestones.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure staff begin the process of toilet training with children more promptly to enable children to meet key milestones in their development when they are ready.