Hassockmoor Childcare & Out of School Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are well behaved and confident at this welcoming setting. Children are warmly greeted by their key person, and they quickly settle into their daily routine. Children who are new to the setting are carefully settled, to ensure that they feel safe and secure from the outset. Staff know children very well and are attentive to their needs. They work in partnership with parents to carefully monitor and follow children's interests. All staff track children's progress and frequently assign next steps in their learning. These are shared with parents, and home learning packs are used to support and challenge children in their learning at home.

The curriculum is designed to support children's learning of essential knowledge and skills, as well as teaching children about traditions, celebrations and seasons. When children show a preference for a particular type of activity, this is provided. For example, climbing equipment is set up for babies and toddlers to help develop their physical skills. Furthermore, when older children demonstrate an interest in water, staff are responsive and quickly set up water play for the children to access. Children show high levels of enjoyment and concentration at the setting. All children make good progress in their learning and development.

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

• Children learn to develop their confidence and independence from an early age. Babies sit beautifully, eating their lunch with cutlery and gesturing when they would like more to eat. Older children learn to take care of their belongings through use of their personalised bags. While playing, children carefully pour their own drinks and use tissues to wipe their faces.
• Books are read to children to support their communication and language skills. Most children sit and listen well and enjoy interacting with the adult reading the book. Younger children self-select books from the bookcase and enjoy touching the sensory pages while staff support them in learning new vocabulary. Babies show great enjoyment in revisiting books by themselves, turning the pages and touching the pictures, as they have been shown to do.
• Generally, staff interact well with children, asking questions, modelling language and introducing children to new vocabulary, such as 'archery'. However, this is not yet consistent with all members of staff across the setting. On occasion, some children lose focus in their learning. As a result, children do not make as much progress in their communication and language skills as they could.
• Parents speak very highly of the setting. They report that they are well informed of their child's progress and next steps in learning. Frequent parents' evenings are held, and communication is shared with parents daily via various methods.
• Parents say that the setting is 'wonderful' and that they would 'absolutely recommend' it to prospective parents.
• Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager has focused on rebuilding links within the local community. To support this, they have held open evenings to showcase the children's achievements; there are art exhibitions, and they have held social events to support the families in getting to know one another. This supports the children in learning about the world around them.
• The manager is aspirational in her leadership and her aspirations for the staff. She sensitively supports staff to further develop their training and skills while ensuring that their workload is manageable. Staff have training opportunities made available to them, and a life coach supports them in managing their well-being. There is a positive and caring atmosphere among the staff and children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop the quality of staff interactions to help children concentrate and improve their communication and language skills consistently.