I Learn Education Caistor

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are keen to engage in interactions with staff. For example, in the baby room, children happily wave at staff. When children in the toddler room arrive, they are picked up by staff and hold onto them tightly for comfort. Children work well as a team in the pre-school room when they use foam bricks to build and construct. Children learn how they can keep themselves safe. For example, staff show them how to kneel safely when they hold sticks to toast marsh mellows on a fire.

The staff know the children well and how to support them to progress in their development. Children have opportunities to develop a love of books. In the baby room, children sit with staff and feel the different textures in touch and feel books. Children in the toddler room are provided with resources that allow them to follow and understand the sequence of a story. Children develop their literacy skills in the pre-school room when they are given opportunities to learn the sounds and actions for letters of the alphabet. Children who speak English as an additional language are supported well to learn and understand English and to have a sense of belonging in the nursery. For example, staff use keywords in children's home language to communicate with them. They talk to children about their cultures and traditions at home.

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

• The manager and staff place a strong focus on supporting children's personal, social and emotional development along with their communication and language skills. They recognise that after the COVID-19 pandemic, some children need support to close gaps in these aspects of their learning. For example, staff talk to children when they play alongside them. They encourage children to develop the strength in their tongues to help support their speaking skills. Staff support children emotionally, for example, when they first start and as they move rooms in the nursery.
• Staff offer children new experiences that they would not receive at home. For example, they take pre-school children for forest sessions. Staff ask them to remember what they need to build a fire and the children are keen to look for sticks. They solve problems when the sticks are too big for the fire and use their hands to break them in half.
• Children are physically active in the nursery. For example, staff hold onto the hands of children in the baby room to encourage them to develop their balance and coordination to walk. Children in the toddler room copy staff as they do actions to songs and learn to move their bodies in different ways. Children in the pre-school room take and manage risks in their play. For example, they work with their friends to find a crate, turn it upside down and stand on it to see other children playing over a small fence.
• Overall, babies are keen to play with what they know and are willing to have a go at new experiences. For example, they explore sounds when they shake musical instruments. However, there are times during the day when staff do not promote this as effectively. For example, occasionally, as children in the baby room play outside, they are not fully provided with opportunities to explore and investigate to support their learning.
• The manager supports her staff through, for example, supervision, appraisals and staff meetings. This provides opportunities for staff to reflect and identify areas of their practice to develop and to help them support children's learning needs. Staff say that they feel supported in their well-being.
• Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. They work with parents, other professionals and the local authority to identify how best to support children's individual needs, such as to help develop their speaking skills.
• The nursery cook and staff offer children nutritious home-cooked meals. This contributes to children's good health. However, staff do not consistently recognise opportunities that arise to support children's independence and self-care skills. For example, staff are not consistent in encouraging children to wipe their noses and wash their hands before they eat.
• Staff give children plenty of praise and encouragement for their achievements. Children listen well and follow staff's instructions, such as during group times. The manager uses additional funding effectively. For instance, resources are purchased to support children's interests and to encourage them to take turns.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to provide further opportunities for children to develop their self-care skills
• help staff to strengthen opportunities for children in the baby room to explore and investigate to build on their learning.