Kids Planet Gedling

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily and securely explore and play. They have built close relationships with their key person, who they seek out when they need support. Children behave well. They learn the nursery promises and talk about using 'kind hands', listening ears and looking after their toys. Children understand what is expected from them as staff reinforce the nursery promises using visual pictures as reminders. For example, staff point to a picture of ears to remind children about listening as they read a story to the children.

Children benefit from a well-sequenced curriculum. Staff consider the children's needs and interests when planning activities. This supports children to make good progress. For example, children spend time exploring the garden to find bugs and insects. Staff extend this interest by incorporating activities that enable children to examine the features of insects. For example, children use magnifying glasses to look at a huge spider and talk about the hairs on its legs.

Staff use settling-in sessions to support children to confidently leave their parents and quickly engage in play activities. They talk to parents about their children so that they can replicate care routines children are familiar with to support continuity in each child's care. Staff support the development of children's emotional well-being with their gentle and kind interactions.

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

• Managers have taken a positive approach to addressing the weaknesses raised at the previous inspection. They have supported staff to develop their practice so that they can implement a broad and balanced curriculum to meet the needs of all children. Staff deliver a progressive curriculum that supports children to develop a love of learning.
• Staff monitor and assess children's progress and accurately identify what children need to learn next. They plan activities that maintain children's interest and encourage them to be active learners. For example, children concentrate well and develop their small-muscle skills as they create models using clay. They learn to handle tools, such as rolling pins and knives, as they model the clay. However, staff's interactions do not always challenge children's own thinking. Therefore, sometimes, staff do not support children to build on what they already know and extend their knowledge.
• Staff use stories and rhymes to introduce babies to new words to support their communication and language development. They talk to older children as they build tunnels for cars to roll down. However, at times, staff do not recognise opportunities to encourage two-way conversations and extend children's language skills further.
• Staff model respect for each other and the natural world as they talk to the children about being kind to their friends and respecting what they see in the garden. For example, they watch birds in the trees and talk about the nests they are building. This encourages children to become caring friends and respect the environment.
• Staff create an environment that is interesting and exciting for children to engage in. Children focus on their chosen activity and show a high level of curiosity and concentration. For example, children explore making potions and pour liquids into different containers with skill and coordination.
• Children develop their large muscles and coordination as they build obstacle courses and walk along planks, learning to balance. They run around playing games of chase with staff and take turns to hide. Younger children develop their small-muscle skills as they pour their own drinks, and older children persevere as they use knives safely to cut their own lunch.
• Parents are well informed about the progress their children are making. They know what their children are learning and how they can help further develop their children's skills and knowledge at home. For example, staff encourage parents to take their children's learning outside as they provide scavenger hunts for children to take home to complete.
• Managers have a clear vision for providing high-quality and inclusive care to all. They are ambitious for all children to achieve their very best. To enable staff to support children's success, they provide support and coaching to develop staff's teaching skills. Managers provide coaching in the moment throughout the day. They also provide bespoke training, such as developing staff's understanding of children's behaviour.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• plan more opportunities within the curriculum to challenge children's thinking to consistently build on what they already know and can do
• strengthen staff's interactions to support a consistent approach in helping the children develop their communication and language skills.