Kids Planet Chris Abell

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in the nursery. They eagerly explore their environment and relish discovering new things from the wealth of experiences and resources. Babies practise their growing physical skills as they crawl to explore the inviting space and pull themselves to standing on the sturdy furniture. Toddlers carefully walk across planks, which helps to improve their coordination skills as practitioners encourage them to hold out their arms to steady themselves.

Practitioners check that children are listening and give them the time they need to process questions. Children recall knowledge that they have learned and confidently explain that paper is made from wood, which can make energy so that the lights work. Children behave exceptionally well. Practitioners help them to understand and control their feelings and behaviour. They give children the tools to do this effectively, reminding them to use their words. Children swiftly resolve their differences as they ask, 'Please can we share?'

Practitioners implement an inspiring curriculum that builds on children's interests and helps to ensure that they all make the very best progress. They praise children's efforts when they have worked hard to achieve a goal or persevered with a difficult task. This helps build children's resilience and confidence in their abilities from a very young age, which encourages a positive attitude to learning.

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

• Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that ensures every child has the best possible start to their education. Practitioners have a detailed knowledge of their key children and use information from their observations to guide their planning. They closely monitor children's progress to identify any gaps in learning, so that these can be swiftly addressed.
• Practitioners place great value on encouraging children's communication and language. Children are exceptionally confident speakers and are developing an impressive vocabulary. Practitioners gently narrate babies' exploration, providing a wealth of new words to describe what they are doing. Babies benefit from effective back-and-forth interactions that help lay firm foundations for their language and cognitive development.
• Children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities, make excellent progress. Leaders use additional funding to target specific areas of development for children and reduce any differences in their learning. Practitioners have a superb understanding of what each child already knows and what they need to learn next. They work closely with parents and other agencies to make sure that children receive the support they need to help them be successful learners.
• Children are exceptionally confident and thrive in practitioners' nurturing care. Their very strong attachments to their key person, provide the security for them to become absorbed in their learning and play. Practitioners provide babies with warm, consistent care and respond to their needs. They make sure they stay close by, comforting babies when they are tired or upset.
• Children enjoy listening to well-read stories. They point out different characters, saying the familiar words. Practitioners recognise the importance of reading to children and share this with parents, encouraging them to read or look at books with their child at home. This provides children with superb opportunities to hear lots of words, which contributes significantly to their future success.
• Partnerships with parents are very well established and valued. Parents report how exceptionally well informed they are about their children's learning and provide very positive comments about their children's experiences at the nursery. Practitioners share information and ideas that enables parents to continue their child's learning at home.
• Children are very independent for their age. They competently manage their personal needs, putting on their shoes and coats, while babies begin to feed themselves. From a young age, practitioners show all children how to complete simple tasks and this helps children to quickly master new skills.
• Leadership and management are exceptional. The manager has high expectations for all practitioners, and this is reflected in everyday practice. Mentors offer skilled support in the drive for excellence. Practitioners report their morale is high, and how they are extremely motivated to provide the very best early years experience for children. As a result, children flourish and develop the skills they need to support their future learning.