Kidz Kabin@ Shropshire Hall

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders provide a safe and nurturing environment that promotes children's emotional well-being. They focus on supporting children to be independent and learn fundamental life skills, such as sharing, turn taking and being kind to their friends. Children behave well.

Staff provide ample opportunities for babies to practise a wide range of physical skills, as they climb on and over large soft equipment. Staff support young children to take turns stacking bricks to create a tower and count with them as the towers get taller. The curriculum for communication and language development is a strength at the nursery. Leaders have clear intentions to promote children's good speaking skills and staff implement these effectively. Staff in the baby room adapt their practice well to support babies and young children. For instance, they use single key words and repeated refrains, such as 'ready, steady, go', which children then copy. Throughout the nursery, staff sing to children a lot. Children join in with words and phrases they remember and eagerly anticipate key parts of songs. This helps children to hear a wide range of vocabulary and become confident communicators.

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

• Leaders have a secure understanding of how to plan an ambitious and well-sequenced curriculum. Staff follow children's interests and information from their assessments to help inform their planning. Staff get to know children well and understand their unique needs.
• Staff engage in lovely interactions with children. Children are motivated to play and engage with staff. Staff consistently model correct language and engage in discussion with babies and children. They encourage children to engage in conversations and they introduce new language alongside their play. Staff ask open-ended questions that promote older children's thinking skills and encourage them to share their own ideas.
• Children show good levels of independence. Babies learn to feed themselves, while older children access the water dispenser and confidently use knives and forks at mealtimes. Children are developing important skills needed for the next stage in their development, particularly the move to school.
• Staff implement the curriculum for mathematics well. Younger children learn to count with one-for-one correspondence. Older children use building bricks to measure towers to check how tall they are. They develop the skills of simple addition and subtraction. Staff use various new words, such as 'tiny' and 'huge', to extend children's understanding of 'big' and 'little'. This helps to develop children's mathematical language and broadens their vocabulary.
• Staff incorporate opportunities for mark making across the whole nursery.
• Children are motivated to make marks for a purpose and develop early literacy skills. For instance, toddlers use chalks on the garden floor, while pre-school children use brushes in coloured salt, to form simple letters in their names.
• Outside, children have lots of fun. Toddlers play with water and sand and use spades and scoops to fill various containers. Children choose from a wide selection of scooters and bicycles and thoroughly enjoy experimenting with percussion instruments, such as using wooden sticks to bang on large cymbals. This develops their physical skills well.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. They praise positive behaviours and are consistent in supporting children to feel confident to make choices and feel valued. Children develop positive relationships with the staff that care for them. Staff in the baby room have nurturing relationships with the children in their care. Children are helpful and polite while at nursery.
• Parents are very happy with the quality of care children receive. Leaders provide them with a range of information about children's development and progress. However, parents do not receive the targeted support necessary from staff, to understand how they can support their children at home or help them progress towards their specific next steps.
• Overall, leaders have a strong understanding of their strengths and areas for continued development. They prioritise staff's well-being. Staff comment that leaders are highly approachable and supportive. Leaders make strong use of supervision sessions to support staff. However, they do not focus professional development and their support to ensure that there is consistency across the staff team and to raise staff's expertise even further.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• tailor home learning further, so parents can support their children with their individual learning at home
• seek further ways to identify professional development opportunities for staff that focus on developing a deeper knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning.