Hidden Treasures

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide children with a warm and friendly welcome as they arrive at the setting. Children quickly settle and eagerly engage in play and learning. They form bonds with the staff and happily share news about their day. This strong attachment helps children build the confidence and emotional security necessary to fully embrace the learning opportunities on offer.

Staff use children's interests and their starting points to develop a well-sequenced and exciting curriculum. They consider children's family backgrounds and prior knowledge. Children enjoy rich experiences they may not have tried before. For example, children enjoy access to the garden, where they can run and dig in the soil. Staff bring chicks into the nursery for children to see. This enables children to learn about nature and the environment. Children are free to access the many resources on offer and develop skills across the curriculum. For example, they develop their imagination and social skills as they play together in the home corner. Staff further children's independence as they support and encourage children in every day tasks. For example, putting on coats and shoes before going outdoors. Children cut their own fruit at snack time using suitable, safe knives, and pour their drinks into cups. This helps children to develop their independence skills and supports them to be ready for the next stage in their learning journeys.

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

• Since the last inspection, the provider has taken effective measures to address the action set. The provider fully understands what they need to do to meet the requirement to ensure that all members of the committee are suitable and provided Ofsted with the information required to complete the required checks on all committee members.
• Generally, children behave well. They understand the routine and rules of the setting. They start to share and take turns. Staff remind children of the rules during circle time. For example, we need to use our 'kind hands'. However, staff do not consistently remind children of the rules and boundaries and, therefore, on occasion children's behaviour deteriorates.
• Children start to learn about healthy lifestyles. They enjoy healthy snacks and staff work with parents to encourage them to provide healthy lunch boxes. Children have access to daily exercise and fresh air. Staff promote children's well-being and develop their physical skills with yoga sessions. Children enthusiastically copy the yoga poses. They laugh as they try to balance on one leg and shout out excitedly if they succeed.
• Staff use their observations and children's interests to build on what children can already do and help them develop new skills. For example, when children show an interest in mark making. Staff set up a mark-making station for children to sign in. Younger children make marks using wipe board pens, developing their small-muscle control and hand-eye coordination that will support their early writing skills. Older children attempt to write their names, using more control of the pens and the marks they make.
• Generally, children show positive attitudes to learning through high levels of curiosity and engagement. They explore and investigate in their play. For example, they fill and empty containers of water. They work out how to make the waterwheel move and how they can stop it. However, on occasion, more confident children dominate activities and less confident children do not get the full benefit from the learning.
• Staff are skilful at developing children's communication and language skills. Stories, rhymes and songs are a fundamental part of the daily routine. Children gather eagerly to listen to familiar stories and have fun predicting what they think will happen next. Furthermore, staff model language well. They talk about what they observe children doing and promote conversations.
• Parents are very complimentary about the setting. They receive daily communication, both online and verbally, about their child's day. Parents are invited to stay-and-play sessions and have a further opportunity to talk to staff about their child's development and how to support their next steps in learning at home.
• Staff work closely with other professionals to enhance outcomes for children. When children attend other settings, staff build partnerships with them to support transitions. They work alongside other professionals to provide tailored learning plans for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). As a result all children, including those with SEND, make good progress.
• The experienced staff team work well together. Staff comment they feel supported by leaders and are happy in their role. Staff have access to a broad range of training opportunities to extend their knowledge and develop their skills even further. This results in a staff team who are passionate about providing secure and engaging experiences for children and their families.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently implement behaviour management strategies to help all children understand what is expected from them
• help staff to recognise when more confident children are dominating activities, ensuring that all children have the best possible learning experience.