Kids Planet George Perkins

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are flourishing at the nursery. Staff are very nurturing towards all children. They immediately notice and respond to the children when they show signs of tiredness or hunger. Staff shower the children with love and cuddles when they become slightly unsettled. This helps children to feel safe and secure. The curriculum is rich and stimulating. Children of all ages enjoy a range of sensory experiences. For instance, they build sandcastles or pretend to cook food while they play in the sandpit. Children smile and laugh as they move their bodies to music.

Older children explain that they like to play with their friends at nursery. Some of them eagerly help their younger peers ride on the bikes outside. Staff share key information about the children as they transition through the nursery. They also share information with other settings the children are due to attend. This helps to ensure children receive the consistency they require. Staff immediately go over to children when they display undesired behaviours. However, some staff do not talk to the children about their actions. This does not fully support children to start to understand right from wrong.

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

• Leaders are passionate about their role and knowledgeable. They have secure knowledge of their local community needs. Leaders use their own evaluations alongside the views of children, parents and other professionals to help make improvements over time. They are keen for children to leave their nursery as confident and independent learners.
• Leaders have designed an ambitious curriculum that builds on what children know and can do in sequence. Staff use what they know about the children to help plan a range of stimulating child-led and adult-led learning experiences. However, there is scope to improve the arrangements of adult-led activities to ensure all children fully benefit from them. For instance, some children quickly join and leave adult-led activities. Consequently, staff are not fully able to provide each child with the specific support they require.
• Staff know their key children extremely well. They work well alongside parents and other professionals to ensure that each child receives the specialist help they require. Consequently, children with special educational needs and/or disabilities make good progress from their starting points.
• Parents state that their children receive high levels of care from their key person and that they can see the progress their children have made in their development. Staff provide parents with lots of opportunities to engage in their children's learning, including by offering play-and-stay sessions and workshops.
• Leaders place focus on children's communication and language development.
• Staff speak clearly to the children and at times they provide children with new vocabulary. Children of all ages help themselves to a range of books. They smile and laugh as they look at the pictures.
• Leaders have effective systems to monitor the overall quality of the setting. They complete regular observations and review meetings with staff. They encourage staff to reflect on their own practice, and they provide tips on where improvements could be made. Staff have lots of opportunities to attend training to help enhance their knowledge and skills.
• There are some inconsistencies in staff's knowledge and implementation of how they manage children's behaviour. Staff use distraction when children display some unwanted behaviours. However, they do not support children effectively to understand how their actions affect others.
• Staff provide the children with lots of opportunities to learn about their local community and the wider world. They talk to the children about their similarities and differences.
• Staff ensure that all children have access to water throughout the day. They apply sunscreen to the children and ensure the children have shaded areas to play, particularly on hot days. Children have lots of opportunities to practise their climbing, balancing and running skills outside. They are offered a range of balanced and nutritious meals throughout the day. All this supports children to understand how they can stay healthy.
• Staff deploy themselves well to ensure children are supervised effectively. They respond quickly to children if they suffer an accident, and they keep thorough accident records. Staff are very attentive to the children, noticing quickly when children need a nappy change.
• Leaders investigate any complaints and complete detailed records of these. They use this information to help develop actions or recommendations on where changes can be made. Leaders keep parents informed about outcomes from complaints in a timely manner.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review and improve the arrangement of adult-led activities to ensure that all children benefit fully from these experiences
• support staff to manage children's behaviour consistently with the aim to help children to understand right from wrong and how their actions affect others.