Kids Planet Wallasey

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive extremely enthusiastically to this exciting nursery. They are very confident and quickly form secure relationships with the staff who nurture and care for them. Children regularly cuddle the staff and tell them that they love them. Children are frequently consulted. For example, staff ask children before they change their nappies. Children flourish and feel safe and valued.

Children are extremely respectful to staff and each other. Children are supported to reflect on their feelings through the abundance of resources available to them. Children are kind and know what it takes to be a 'good friend'. They tell visitors that good friends are 'kind' and 'share together'. Children have been consulted about the rules and they remind adults to ensure that every child has a turn and a chance to be first.

Children are highly inquisitive and have positive attitudes towards their learning. They benefit from activities and experiences that link to their interests and are enjoyable and challenging. Younger children show great intrigue as they spray paint onto material. They add different colours and talk about the changes. They proudly state 'it is not yellow anymore, it is orange'. Children explore using all their senses. They take off their shoes and socks and jump in puddles and use their feet to paint. Children take part in science experiments, where they add ingredients and eagerly await 'the bang' as they add the final ingredient. All children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make excellent progress in their learning.

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

• Leaders are passionate about staff's well-being and continuous professional development. Staff feel extremely well supported and value the access they have to training. Leaders maintain a clear oversight of the setting through regular room and peer observations. This helps leaders to target professional development to support staff to maintain high-quality practice. Staff share that they strive to be the best possible practitioner that they can be.
• Children are provided with an ambitious curriculum with a strong focus on communication and language development. All staff use their excellent teaching skills to build on children's language effectively. As children play, staff encourage them to use a wide range of vocabulary. As children explore musical instruments, staff encourage them to guess what they may be called. Children talk about how they can hear 'seeds' inside so it may be a shaker. Staff praise these attempts and then introduce new language, such as 'calabash rattle'. Children have frequent opportunities to develop their communication and language skills.
• Children with SEND are incredibly well supported. Staff have high expectations of children and are passionate about each child reaching their full potential. Leaders are highly skilled in using assessments to recognise any possible concerns. They work closely with parents and external agencies to help all children to make the best possible progress.
• Leaders value the importance of building relationships early to support children to feel safe and secure when they start. Transition procedures are extremely flexible to meet the needs of the children and families. Staff have established excellent links with the schools that children move on to. They complete visits to the school with children if required and ensure teachers have the opportunity to come to meet the children at nursery. Parents comment that these arrangements are extremely effective and that their children are very well prepared for the transition to school.
• Parent partnerships are excellent. Parents are highly complimentary about the 'love' and 'care' that their children receive. They feel fully informed about their children's progress and praise the staff for the support they receive as a family. Parents have noted superb progress with their children's development since they have started at nursery and feel that the staff are 'instrumental' in this.
• Children are very active in their play. They use their strength as they push along wheelbarrows and carry heavy water containers. Children use their hand muscles to spray water bottles with great strength. They scoop, mix and pour regularly throughout the day. They show great pride as they are then able to use these skills when selecting sandwiches at mealtimes with tongs. They proudly share, 'I can do it, it is easy for me.'
• Staff are skilled at supporting children's early mathematical knowledge. Children follow recipes to create a 'Gruffalo crumble'. They collect the right number of sticks and stones needed for the recipe and count accurately up to 10. Children share their mathematical knowledge through every day activities. For example, at mealtimes they talk about the shape of the sandwiches and the amount they have. Children have regular opportunities to practise and build on their mathematical understanding in a range of fun and exciting ways.