Kaleidoscope Childcare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled at the setting. They are confident, resilient and have patience as they eagerly engage in challenging activities that staff carefully plan for them. For example, children became engrossed in trying to find new ways of rolling a ball down a pipe and into the bucket at the bottom. Children build meaningful friendships and enjoy each other's company. They happily include others in their play and listen to each other's ideas. For instance, children suggested that they try to use water to push the ball down the pipe and they trial this idea with success. They are independent and choose their play with confidence. Children learn about the importance of healthy eating. They grow produce, such as strawberries and tomatoes, which they prepare and eat at mealtimes. Children of all ages develop good physical skills. For example, they learn about the different ways that they can move their bodies in yoga activities. Staff use additional funding effectively to meet the individual learning needs of children. For example, they have purchased a subscription for a resource company to borrow equipment that encourages children to take turns, such as a large-group water play game.

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

• Staff know each child well and plan activities that help them make good progress. They provide a good range of resources and experiences to encourage children to experiment and learn. Staff have secure and trusting relationships with children and this helps them settle quickly into the setting. Children have a good sense of belonging and positive levels of well-being and self-esteem. Overall, they engage well in their learning experiences. However, at times, staff are not quick to identify children who would benefit from adult interaction. Children are generally very independent and confident. However, staff are not always aware when it would be appropriate to step in to support a child to choose or join in with an activity.
• The manager and staff build and maintain positive partnerships with parents. They keep parents well involved and informed in their children's learning and progress. For example, staff share information about the children's day and what they achieve. They share useful information to support parents, such as toileting tips. Due to the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, parents do not currently enter the building to collect their children. However, this has no negative impact on the good-quality communication parents receive and they speak highly of the staff.
• Staff support children to develop a good understanding of the similarities and differences of people within the setting and in the wider community. They teach children about traditions of other countries. For example, children learn simple Polish words and try Polish foods.
• The manager closely monitors the good quality of education and care that staff provide. She routinely observes staff teaching children and provides them with helpful feedback to support their practice. Staff attend regular and beneficial training. They have made good use of recent training to develop children's resilience and emotional well-being.
• All staff support children to develop good communication skills. They play communication games with children to encourage them to learn new words and discuss what they can see. For instance, they use homemade picture cards and play their own version of the card game 'snap'.
• Staff support all children effectively, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff liaise closely with speech and language therapists to support children who have a speech and language delay. They share ideas and strategies to help children reach their full potential, such as using pictures alongside spoken words.
• Overall, children behave well and staff support them to develop good social skills, for example encouraging them to say 'please' and 'thank you'. Staff recognise and praise good behaviour. However, on rare occasions, staff do not consistently help children to understand the consequences of their behaviour and why they are being asked to stop. For example, when a child throws an object, they are simply told 'no' instead of being provided with an explanation.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor behaviour management more closely to make sure children understand why they are being asked to stop certain behaviour
• support staff to be more vigilant in recognising when children would benefit from adult interaction to encourage their learning and enjoyment further.