Kids Planet Greenbank

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children form strong bonds with staff at this large, welcoming nursery. This helps them to feel safe and secure. Children arrive eager to explore the interesting activities that await them. Children laugh as they splash and explore toy ducks in water. Staff extend children's learning as they sing 'Five little ducks' and encourage children to count the ducks. Children are excited learners, who make good progress in their development.

Children know and follow the routines and staff expectations. Younger children build towers, and staff encourage them to take turns. Children excitedly work together to make the tower bigger until it falls. Older children work together to create a 'cave' for their dinosaurs. When it collapses, they eagerly help each other to rebuild it. Children form friendships and play cooperatively together.

Leaders place high importance on supporting children's physical skills. Children are provided with ample opportunities to be physically active. Older children stretch their bodies and slither like snakes outside. Staff encourage babies to crawl over small bridges. Children beam with pride as they get to the top. Children are extremely physical in their play and make good progress in this area of learning.

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

• Staff foster children's interest in books and stories. They read aloud to children throughout the day with expression and joy. Staff encourage children to recall stories in their play that have been read to them previously. For instance, children use various materials to build a 'Hungry Caterpillar', and staff encourage them to talk about what the caterpillar will eat next. This love of books helps to develop children's vocabulary and language skills.
• The curriculum for mathematics is sequenced effectively. As younger children scoop sand into buckets, staff introduce language such as 'more' and 'full'. Older children demonstrate that they have remembered these previous experiences as they use water to show cups that are 'full', 'empty' and 'half full'. Children develop a solid foundation in mathematics.
• Leaders plan a wide and varied curriculum for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Staff build good relationships with parents and other professionals, who regularly meet with the special educational needs coordinator (SENCo) to discuss children's learning and development. The SENCo supports staff effectively in implementing agreed plans for identified children. Children with SEND are supported well and make good progress from their starting points.
• Parents are delighted with the progress they have seen in their children's speech and social skills since they have started at the nursery. They feel well informed about their children's development. They appreciate the 'warmth of the staff' and the way the nursery prepares children for school. These strong parent partnerships help children to transition well between home and nursery and promotes consistency for children's learning.
• Children learn about the importance of a healthy diet and exercise. They recall the importance of warming up before they take part in physical activities. Children discuss the impact that physical activity has on their bodies. They talk about feeling warm and notice their hearts beating faster. Children are provided with nutritious meals, and staff discuss the benefits of eating vegetables. Children are developing positive attitudes towards keeping healthy.
• Leaders are committed to providing high-quality care, and staff feel fully supported in their roles. However, support and coaching does not always provide staff with a clear understanding of how they can improve their practice. This leads to some minor weaknesses in the quality of education. For example, some staff do not allow children the time to think and respond to questions they are asked, to fully extend learning.
• Leaders have designed an aspirational curriculum. However, not all staff are confident in how to implement this consistently. For example, mealtimes in some rooms are social occasions, where staff support conversations and discuss where in the world some ingredients come from. This sparks children's discussions about their own experiences of visiting those countries. However, in some rooms, the lunchtime routines are not organised as effectively to help promote children's social skills and enhance their learning as leaders intend.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• target professional development more precisely on helping all staff to build on their knowledge, understanding and skills over time
• support staff to develop their knowledge of the curriculum intent further so that they are able to implement this consistently.