Kiddie Capers, Hassocks

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff provide an individual welcome for each child as they arrive in the morning. Babies demonstrate close relationships with their key person as they happily wave goodbye to their parents. Older children receive a warm and friendly greeting from staff who know them well. Children confidently come inside and find their name to place on their peg. Children demonstrate that they feel safe and confident with nurturing and caring staff.

Children become absorbed in their play. For example, they spend long periods of time focusing on designing Chinese lanterns. They demonstrate individual creativity and explore the paints and resources available. Staff promote children's interest and engagement in their work. They offer plenty of praise and model alternative ways of using equipment such as glue. Children develop highly positive attitudes to learning.

Leaders support staff to provide opportunities for children to learn about different cultures. For example, children learn about festivals that their friends are celebrating, such as Chinese New Year. Staff develop activities and stories to extend children's understanding. Children learn about differences and similarities between themselves and others.

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

• Children's communication and language are promoted well. Staff engage in meaningful conversations with children and build on their vocabulary. Furthermore, staff build on children's understanding of written words. For example, staff provide plenty of opportunities for children to experience different books. Children cuddle up on a bench in the garden as staff read with animation and enthusiasm. Leaders also organise trips to the local library and encourage parents to visit too. Children begin to develop a love of reading.
• Babies have a well-organised outdoor play area that allows them to explore freely. Staff support them to use equipment to pull themselves up and learn to balance. At times, the organisation of the indoor environment is less effective at supporting babies' physical skills. For example, the arrangement of furniture, such as tables and sleeping equipment, impacts the usable space. This means that, on occasion, babies and staff cannot move around with ease.
• Staff know children well. They have a good understanding of their needs and take children's interests into consideration when planning activities. For example, when staff recognise that children enjoy playing with toy cars, they use tape to create a road for children to follow. Staff interact closely and provide language such as left and right to build on children's vocabularies as they play.
• Leaders act with integrity to ensure all children have access to their full early education entitlement. Where children have special educational needs and/or disabilities, leaders collaborate with other professionals involved in their care. Together, they implement targeted plans to support individual needs. Staff and leaders are knowledgeable about individual abilities and ensure that all children enjoy the same breadth of experiences. Through this, children are supported to achieve the best outcomes.
• Overall, children's behaviour is good. Older children play alongside each other and recognise how to include younger children in their games. However, at times, staff do not implement rules and expectations as intended by leaders. For example, staff do not consistently deliver explanations to children or provide guidance about why rules need to be followed. Consequently, these expectations are not consistently understood by children.
• Staff speak highly of the positive support that is provided to them in their roles. They also consider the well-being support they receive to be of very high quality. Staff have regular reviews of their performance and receive targeted professional development plans. For example, staff engage in training to increase their understanding of supporting children's speech and language. This ensures that teaching standards are consistently raised for children.
• Parents feel involved and informed about their child's time at the setting. For example, they explain how staff invite them in to talk about their child's progress and to see their work. Leaders organise this to promote parent involvement in children's progress and development. Staff also provide information about how learning can be extended at home. Parent partnerships are strong.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the organisation of the indoor learning environment for babies to more effectively encourage their physical development
• support staff to be more consistent in their approach to promoting children's good behaviour.