Hunsworth Community Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are very happy when they attend the setting. They form good attachments with their key person. Children look for their key person to play and seek them out for comfort. They look to them for praise when they have achieved a task. Practitioners are passionate, caring and nurturing. They validate children's feelings when they are upset and show them affection. Children are content and ready to learn. They happily take part in circle time. Children excitedly sing the good morning song from memory. They confidently recall 'Busy Bees' values and talk about kind hands and kind feet. Children are learning how to behave.

The provider has high expectations for children's learning and development. Practitioners ensure that learning in the various areas of the early year's curriculum are weaved through the activities provided. For example, as children build structures with building blocks, practitioners join in with their play. They encourage children to work together. Practitioners encourage children to count as they build towers. They skilfully teach children about height and width. At the same time, practitioners use their knowledge of each child in their care to adapt their interactions to best suit their varying needs. They challenge older children to count larger numbers and introduce them to 3D shapes. These well-embedded approaches help to ensure all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make good progress.

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

• Practitioners teach children the importance of being healthy. They deliver an exercise class daily to children. Children learn what exercise does to the body and heart. Practitioners teach children about healthy foods as they plant and grow vegetables. Children develop a good understanding on what a healthy diet looks like.
• Children have lots of exciting opportunities to develop their large and small muscles. Practitioners teach children how to balance on balance bicycles. Older children ride wheeled toys up and down a path negotiating obstacles as they do so. Practitioners teach children how to aim as they throw balls into a hoop and net. They provide reassurance and praise to children to persevere. This helps children to develop coordination and spatial awareness.
• Children develop their problem-solving skills as they complete jigsaws. Practitioners encourage children to turn, flip and wriggle pieces into position. They teach them about shape and size as they do so. Children develop hand-to-eye coordination while they show deep concentration.
• Practitioners provide children with real and meaningful opportunities to understand different communities. They give children ownership of a disused phone box to create a library in the community. Practitioners support children to take part in local events and festivals such as bake off, harvest festival and Christmas celebrations. Practitioners teach children about Diwali and Lunar New Year. Children develop an increased understanding of the cultural richness surrounding them.
• Practitioners encourage children to develop their independence. All children compete self-registration when they arrive at the setting. Practitioners teach them to use a knife as they spread butter on crackers. Children have a good understanding of their personal hygiene. They can wash their hands and use toilet independently. Practitioners teach children early phonics. Children are prepared for their move to school.
• Parents report that communication sharing is excellent. Practitioners update parents on their child's progress daily through verbal feedback. Information is also shared on the curriculum through a noticeboard, a newsletter, and individual children's journals. Practitioners support parents with strategies to extend their child's learning in the home. Parents are fully involved in their child's learning.
• The manager carries out supervisions and appraisals. This ensures practitioners have opportunities to discuss the children whom they are key person. The manager supports practitioners to complete mandatory training. However, professional development does not focus strongly enough on individual practitioners development needs. Practitioners have little opportunity to further develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of how children learn in order to improves outcomes for chidlren further. That said, practitioners consistently report high levels of support for their emotional well-being.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• ensure that opportunities for the training and professional development of individual practitioners are more tightly focused on developing their skills, knowledge and understanding of how children learn and improving outcomes for children even further.