Hopscotch Nursery School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children thrive at this very welcoming setting. Leaders and managers are passionate about providing high-quality care and education for children and families. Children are provided with a wide range of activities and experiences to support their imagination and their communication skills. For example, children are highly engaged and motivated exploring items that float or sink. They learn about which items are heavier and explore how magnets work in water. Staff successfully encourage children's thinking skills by posing questions and supporting children's understanding of different concepts. Children demonstrate excellent attitudes to learning.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are provided with personalised plans and individualised induction arrangements by staff to ensure they settle immediately. Staff successfully prioritise supporting children's language skills. Children who were nonverbal when they started, now use words and actions to communicate effectively. All children make strong progress. Staff positively praise children and encourage them, engaging with them in their play and showing them kindness and care. This supports children's high levels of emotional well-being very effectively. Children's behaviour is exemplary. Older children immediately help to set up for lunchtime, offering to fill the water jugs for their friends to have drinks. Staff successfully promote children's understanding of different religions and cultures. Children demonstrate that they are very inclusive and respectful of these. Staff encourage children to play together very well. Children encourage and support their friends, inviting them to play and cheering them on during activities. When this happens, children beam with delight and show that they feel highly valued and content.

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

• Staff foster outstanding behaviour and attitudes in children. They motivate children to express their ideas and listen attentively to them. Younger children take great joy in nurturing plants they are growing, displaying very high levels of confidence and self-esteem. Older children provide cuddles and comfort to their younger friends, helping them feel safe and secure.
• Children are provided with a rich set of experiences to support their individual needs and their understanding of others and the wider world. Children are exceptionally welcoming and inclusive. Older children spend time finding out about Pakistan and learning about different head coverings. They also excel in learning Spanish, which enhances their appreciation and respect for different languages and cultures.
• Staff create interesting environments for children to explore and engage in. Children get ready immediately, excited for 'bucket time'. They spontaneously join in with the welcome rhyme, showing that they know the routines very well. However, on occasion, staff do not recognise opportunities to extend children's learning and encourage them to attempt to do things for themselves. This means that there is not always consistent support for children to build further on their learning and become even more independent.
• Staff carefully plan a curriculum to target gaps in learning effectively. Leaders and managers use funding effectively, for instance to create sensory spaces and purchase resources to facilitate individual children's development. Staff prioritise children's literacy skills as a key focus. Children are attentive and focused while learning about antelopes and their habitats when listening to a story read by staff. All children make good progress from their starting points.
• Staff encourage children's ideas to help shape the provision. For instance, children contribute to the creation of menus. The in-house chef motivates children to sample a diverse array of foods. Staff engage in detailed discussions with children about making healthy choices. Robust processes are in place to support children with allergies, ensuring they develop an excellent awareness of how to stay healthy and safe.
• Leaders and managers are inspirational and relentless in their pursuit to ensure all children and families access support. They go above and beyond to access external advice. Support is tailored to ensure all children, including children with SEND, access their full entitlement. Relationships within the local community, including the local authority, schools and settings, are excellent.
• Children benefit from staff who are committed and hard-working. Staff are encouraged to access a wide range of training. Leaders and managers prioritise staff's well-being. Staff report how happy they are. They talk highly of the managers' vision and caring ethos. They say that they love their jobs and that the setting is at the heart of the local community.
• Communication with parents is excellent. Parents are invited to participate in workshops and groups that provide support for their children's home learning. They say that their children love attending. Parents describe staff as 'one big family' and say that staff genuinely love and care for their children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's practice to enable them to identify when they could expand children's learning even further to support key skills and understanding.