Kids Planet Tong

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are welcomed into the nursery each day by smiling staff, who help them to settle quickly and join in play with their friends. Children are confident and keen to share their play and learning with visitors. For example, they talk about favourite books and demonstrate how to make shapes with play dough. Children build strong connections within their community through a range of outings. They are involved in charity fundraising events. They enjoy visits from people who are there to help them, such as the police and dentist.

Pre-school children share their ideas for improvement through a children's committee. This helps staff to create an environment that supports children's interests and promotes choices in their play. For instance, children enjoy a science club, where they explore how food colouring reacts to different liquids.

Children's self-esteem and confidence is promoted through praise, encouragement, and recognition of their achievements. They develop resilience as they begin to share, take turns, and solve problems. Children have a good understanding of the expectations for their behaviour, and they behave well. Staff use effective strategies, in partnership with parents, to support children who struggle to understand their emotions and regulate their behaviour. For instance, children share 'The Colour Monster' story and use pictures to communicate how they feel.

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

• Leaders place a strong focus on breaking down barriers to education and ensuring that all children have the skills they need for the next stage in their learning. They have created a nursery ethos that values diversity and kindness. Staff use children's home languages to make sure they can communicate their wants and needs. Staff supporting children with special educational needs and/or disabilities have the training they need to help children develop their social skills and communication. Leaders use funding well to enhance learning experiences for children.
• Staff use observations and assessments to find out children's interests and what they already know and can do. They plan a sequenced curriculum that is designed to help children attain their next steps in learning. During child-led play, staff follow children's lead well. They listen to children and engage them in discussions. Staff help children to recall previous learning and encourage them to share their knowledge and ideas. However, during adult-led activities, the curriculum is not always implemented well. At times, staff do not consider what children already know and what they need to learn next. As a result, children are not always challenged to make the best possible progress.
• Children enjoy creative activities using paint and a broad range of media. They play with water and sand, learning to coordinate their hand movements when they use tools to empty and pour. They strengthen the hand and arm muscles they need for early writing. Staff help children to think about size and the capacity of different objects, which supports their early mathematical knowledge. The youngest children play happily alongside each other. However, staff do not give them enough support to play cooperatively and build strong relationships with their peers.
• Staff skilfully promote children's communication and language skills. For example, children listen to favourite stories and re-enact them in their play. Staff work closely with parents to support children's speaking skills, such as reducing children's use of dummies. Children can leave their dummy for the 'dummy fairy'. In return, the dummy fairy leaves them a small gift, such as a book.
• Partnerships with parents are excellent. Leaders provide a wealth of information to support children's learning and development at home. The nursery has a book library, where children borrow books to read with their parents. Toothbrushing kits are free for parents to collect and include information about why good dental hygiene is important. Parents comment that staff are caring, supportive, kind and genuinely interested in children's well-being.
• Leaders prioritise staff's well-being. They provide a successful programme of supervision, training and coaching to promote staff's professional development and drive improvement. Staff explain the positive impact of training on their practice and how it has helped them enhance children's communication and language skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the planning and implementation of adult-led activities to always build on what children already know and can do, to consolidate and embed their learning and help them make the best possible progress
• fully support the youngest children to develop their understanding of how to collaborate and compromise with others, so that they build and strengthen relationships with their peers.