Immanuel Childcare Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled. They have an abundance of fun as they participate in activities and learn as they play. The curriculum is well planned and all staff are fully aware of their roles in teaching this to the children. Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour and teach them clear boundaries. At the time of the inspection, children were playing with water. Staff teach children that if they do not wish to be splashed themselves, they should be aware that their friends might not want to get wet either. This helps children to think and learn about the consequences of their actions. Staff tailor the curriculum to meet the interests and individual needs of the children, helping to progress children's learning. However, at times, staff are not encouraged to make the most of opportunities to provide mark-making activities throughout the day, for all ages of children. Staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities well. Staff share with parents what they are working on with the children, so they can all work together to progress the children's learning.

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

• The leadership team has worked hard to make improvements to staff practice since the last inspection. Overall, staff are aware of the expectations of the manager and plan the curriculum to enhance the learning experiences of all children.
• Staff are not always supported to review the daily transitions between routine activities to provide further opportunities for children's learning.
• Staff work in partnership with parents. They listen to parents' views and make appropriate changes. For example, staff now provide written assessments of children's learning so they can all work together to progress this. They also work with parents to support children's development, for example weaning and transitions to older rooms.
• Children have close bonds with staff. At times, they seek out staff for reassurance as they play. Children also seek out staff to show off their work with great excitement. Staff replicate this excitement back with well-targeted praise, helping to enhance and build on children's confidence.
• Staff support babies well with their development. They provide plenty of tummy time experiences and respond with key words when babies babble away to them. Staff are expressive, using different facial expressions to help babies develop their social skills.
• Older children show positive and kind behaviour to younger children. They help and support younger children as they fill and pour the water between resources, as well as finding other resources for them to play with. For example, an older child saw a younger child struggling with a large spade and helped them to find a smaller one that was easier to use.
• Staff are highly skilled in adapting activities to meet children's interests. At the time of inspection, children did not want to work at sticking objects together, but instead were interested in pouring and filling up containers. Staff quickly changed activities and provided rulers and different sized containers for children to use and explore. Staff had the same learning intentions with the new activities so children could still build on their learning from these experiences.
• Staff teach children about mathematics and numbers successfully. Children can identify, when measuring the amount of water, that one bucket has more water. They know the number on the ruler is five and the other reads four. Children tell staff that five is a higher number than four. Staff praise the children well for their answers, helping to support their self-esteem.
• Leaders highlight staff training needs well. Recent training has helped to successfully support staff's understanding of how to implement the new curriculum in order to progress children's learning and development. Children make good progress from their starting points.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to identify when to move between routine activities to reduce children's waiting times and to make sure children's learning is not interrupted too early
• ensure that the curriculum for physical development is fully understood by all staff so that children have opportunities to develop the control and coordination they need for early writing.