Kids Planet Cheadle Stoke

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

A wide range of open-ended resources are available to ignite children's imagination and promote their independent learning. For instance, after toasting their breakfast outdoors on a real fire, children proactively re-enact the experience through role play. Staff actively encourage children to share their views. Staff take older children out to choose and purchase their own resources from charity shops. Children also have opportunities to be involved in the pre-school council. Staff instinctively follow children's cues, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), to promote their happiness in their learning. For instance, when babies reach out, staff quickly respond with a cuddle.

Securing children's personal, social and emotional development is of staff's utmost priority to ensure that all children feel safe. For instance, they read books to children about baby owls who are missing their mummy, and precisely target funding to ensure that disadvantaged children who struggle with separation get extra support. Parents and carers are delighted that their children retain the same key persons. They identify the strong bonds that children form with them. Staff model how to play, share and take turns safely. They have high expectations of children's behaviour.

Staff regularly engage with parents, other professionals and outside agencies to provide all children with first-class experiences. For example, babies partake in baby massage sessions which help to soothe and relax them, and older children advance in their physical skills through activities like swimming. Staff know all children extremely well. This ensures that they provide every one of them with the opportunities they need for future success. Furthermore, children give back to the community as they join in with 'random acts of kindness'. They develop empathy for others and an understanding of the world around them.

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

• The curriculum is ambitious and well sequenced across all age groups to build on what children know and can do. Staff skilfully observe children, reflect on different theorists' approaches, and have completed various accreditations to ensure that teaching has a significant impact on children's learning. As a result, all children, including those with SEND, make very good progress alongside their peers.
• Staff work extremely well with local schools to promote a smooth and effective transition for all children. When children attend two settings, communication between the settings is excellent to promote consistency in children's learning. A successful school readiness programme is in place to ensure that children develop the essential skills they need to prepare them for school. For example, when children are moving to a Catholic school, staff take them to church to help them to understand what to expect.
• Children learn how to keep themselves safe during carefully managed 'risky play' activities where they climb up three-tier stepladders and make their own fires with flint and steel. Experienced staff support children to analyse potential risks and constantly check what they have understood to ensure that there are no misunderstandings.
• Staff interactions positively ignite children's engagement and strengthen their communication and acquisition of new vocabulary. For example, staff purposefully sit in front of babies to talk to them, maintaining strong eye contact as they babble. They provide children with fantastic opportunities to explore their world through their senses, encouraging them to use their own words to describe textures and smells. As a result, children's communication and language development is outstanding.
• Children have ample opportunity to learn about healthy lifestyles as they engage in activities that encourage them to explore a range of different foods. They learn new words, such as 'aubergine' and 'zesty' as they inquisitively cut open different fruits and vegetables to reveal what is inside. When juicing berries, children learn to critically think about how they can stop their juice from escaping through the colander's small holes, and they cleverly place a bowl underneath to catch the drips. This shows fantastic problem-solving skills.
• Staff carefully consider the curriculum for physical development to ensure that children can strengthen their small and larger muscles. For instance, children use potato mashers to squash berries and fruit which they later use as paint to create unique artwork. Babies build up their skills from crawling to walking using appropriate furniture. They pull themselves up and cruise.
• Managers pride themselves on being there for the whole family and not just the child. They welcome parents to an abundance of workshops to discuss topics such as 'dropping the dummy' to strengthen children's early language development. Parents are very complimentary about what the setting has to offer their children and they value their involvement as part of the parent committee.
• Excellent attention is given to ensure that the setting continuously thrives. Managers invest heavily to support staff well-being and nurture their professional development. This includes new staff, who receive high-quality support to ensure that standards do not dip. Managers provide cover staff with an extensive handover to ensure minimum disruption to children's routines and learning experiences.