Into the Ark Forest School Scarisbrick

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children show excitement when they arrive at the inclusive outdoor setting and greet their friends. They are very happy and settled. Nurturing and respectful staff are very supportive in their interactions with children. All children develop close attachments with staff. They are affectionate and give staff lots of cuddles. The learning environment inspires children's curiosity. Older children excitedly call staff to show them what they have made. They use critical-thinking skills when they build a mudslide with pieces of wood and scoop the mud using spades. Toddlers make imaginative creations using a range of open-ended materials such as twigs and twine. Staff respond positively, which motivates the children.

The well-qualified staff skilfully use their knowledge of child development and forest school approaches to plan for each child's learning. Children are keen to lead their own play. They explore the forest area and investigate the activities that staff provide. Staff are passionate about books and they share this with the children. Toddlers take books to staff to read and show their understanding as they point at pictures. Children have a great time and engage in all there is to offer. High priority is given to helping children learn how to behave well. Toddlers are developing their turn-taking skills, aided sensitively by staff who help them to share. Children are making good progress in their learning.

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

• Leaders are highly ambitious about providing outdoor education that supports children in all areas of their learning. They have worked hard to produce and embed a progressive curriculum. Staff get to know the children very well. They use children's interests to plan new and exciting opportunities to extend what they know and can do. Children are very confident learners.
• Staff enable children to take ownership of their learning, for instance by using resources in imaginative ways. They offer children a wide range of natural materials which they use to practise their fine motor skills. For instance, children develop their control of scissors when they cut up leaves and twigs. They use sticks to make marks and explore patterns in the mud and clay. This helps to develop their early writing skills.
• Staff provide tailored care for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Leaders work closely with external agencies to seek additional guidance, assess and identify emerging needs. Staff implement individual plans that identify additional strategies to support learning. Children with SEND make good progress alongside their peers.
• Staff support children to understand the world. They teach them to respect the environment and to care for living things. Children take account of the changing seasons. They show kindness as they care for chickens and ponies. Staff also teach the children about different cultures and beliefs. They promote equality and children learn to understand what makes them unique.
• Physical development is given high priority. Children enjoy being immersed in forest school activities, and the fully outdoor area has been developed to support this area of the curriculum. The environment is used well and enables children to continuously build on their physical skills. For example, children learn to balance in the woodland areas using hammocks and when climbing trees. Very young children are confident and capable of climbing in and out of hammocks and older children balance on beams over trenches.
• Leaders conduct regular staff supervision sessions and consider staff's well-being. Leaders observe staff's practice and suggest areas for further development. However, this is not always sharply focused on building consistently high-quality interactions that contribute to the delivery of the curriculum intentions.
• Parents are very complimentary about the setting. They say how open and friendly staff are. They speak highly of the setting and the unique opportunities that staff provide for children. Staff provide parents with detailed accounts of their secure understanding of each child's progress. Parents report that they are very well informed. This helps them to know how to continue to support children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the quality of supervision sessions and sharply focus on developing individual staff's delivery of the curriculum intent.