Kids Planet Shrewsbury

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff are kind, patient and reassuring. They offer children love and comfort as needed. This helps children to form strong and lasting bonds with them. Staff plan a wide range of learning experiences for children across all areas of learning. Children confidently and independently access these and most maintain a good level of engagement as they play. Babies and younger children love joining in with sensory experiences, such as exploring with water, sand and play dough. They use the equipment and their hands to fill, empty, mould and manipulate. All children make good progress in their development.

Children thoroughly enjoy the time they spend outdoors in the fresh air. Staff plan a wide range of activities for children to experience that enhances their learning. For example, older children make their own paint using natural ingredients, such as beetroot, spinach and turmeric. They work together as they paint on a large canvas, and experiment with colours as they make orange using red and yellow. Other children develop their physical skills as they use larger equipment to climb and balance or manipulate gloop to strengthen their smaller muscles in preparation for early writing. Staff deploy themselves well to supervise the children as they play, eat and sleep. They ask children's permission before they carry out any care routines. This helps to value children's voice and wishes. There are effective procedures in place that help to promote children's health. Children have access to balanced and nutritious meals.

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

• Leaders have been on a journey of improvement. They continuously reflect on the quality of the setting and develop plans for how the setting can continue to improve. Leaders strive to meet the needs of children and their families.
• Leaders continuously observe staff's practice. They have discussions with staff to identify what they do well and what could be improved even further. Staff have access to a range of training, which helps to develop their knowledge.
• The curriculum is sequenced well. There are clear aims in place for children at each age and/or stage of development. Staff monitor children's development well. They use this to identify children's next steps. However, at times as children access learning experiences, staff do not think carefully enough about how they can extend children's knowledge and skills even further.
• Children of all ages enjoy story times and rhymes. Babies enjoy moving their bodies to the song. Staff read clearly and with lots of enthusiasm. Children help themselves to stories and books. They smile as they talk about the story.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) receive specialised, one-to-one support, to ensure their individual needs are continually met. For example, children who find it hard to interact with large groups of children access a sensory room, where they can take time to play with their friends in a relaxed, calming environment. Staff attend specific training to enable them to provide children with SEND with the expert support they need. Leaders work closely with outside professionals and parents to ensure that children receive timely interventions and tailored support. This helps them to make the very best progress that they are capable of.
• Staff capture and share key information with parents about their children. Parents value the support and care they receive from staff and leaders. They describe staff as friendly and kind. Staff keep parents informed about how they can continue their child's learning at home.
• Children are offered as many settling-in sessions as they require. This helps them become familiar with their new environment. However, there is scope to strengthen transition arrangements further, particularly during children's first few days in their new room. This is because all staff do not share key information about the children to their new key person. Consequently, these staff do not fully understand children's needs or development.
• There are clear strategies to manage the behaviour of older children. Staff introduce calming techniques and sit with children as they begin to regulate their own behaviour. Staff remind older children to share, take turns and to be kind to their friends. However, this practice is not consistently applied across the setting, particularly for younger children. For example, some staff do not talk to the children about their actions or the impact on others. This does not fully support all children to understand right from wrong.
• Leaders ensure that they follow the correct ratio requirements. Staff ensure all children have drinks throughout the day. In addition, there are effective procedures followed if children suffer an accident or injury at the setting.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to extend children's learning even further as they play with an aim to raise outcomes for children
• strengthen the transition arrangements in place with an aim to support staff to better meet the needs of children, particularly as they transition into a new room
• consistently implement behaviour management strategies with an aim to ensure all children start to learn right from wrong and how their actions can impact on others.