Kindergarten Forest Hill Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children flourish in this welcoming and nurturing kindergarten. They benefit from a language-rich environment. Children and staff positively interact in both English and German, which many children speak at home. Children keenly sing rhymes and songs in both English and German to further promote their developing early communication and language skills. Children's uniqueness is promoted very well.

When children first arrive, they very quickly settle to tasks. They remember to change their shoes and store them in labelled baskets to help promote a strong sense of belonging. Children who need additional support when they first arrive are supported to a high level by their key person. This further promotes a strong key-person approach and children's emotional security.

Children who prefer to play and learn outdoors benefit from a curriculum full of opportunities to explore the natural world and take risk and challenge. They are keen and enthusiastic learners. Children develop an awareness of their surroundings and how to keep themselves safe. Vigilant staff supervise children very effectively to ensure their safety. For example, all children remember to safely climb outdoor steps and staff sensitively remind children to be thoughtful of their friends, such as when they investigate the textures of bark and sand. Children behave well and they are emotionally secure.

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

• The provider has recently taken over as manager to help successfully share her values among all staff. She has a very clear vision for providing high-quality early education for all children and recognises areas for improvement and the many strengths of the provision and her staff team. The manager says she has high expectations for all staff to develop their already good teaching of the curriculum through targeted training and team meetings.
• Staff report high levels of support for their well-being. They regularly welcome supervision meetings to share their views and identify professional development opportunities to further improve their teaching skills to an even higher level.
• Effective safe recruitment for staff from Germany and Austria is organised well to ensure their suitability to work with children. Successful induction programmes help all staff to understand their role and responsibilities. For instance, staff understand their obligation to safeguard all children and know what to do in the event of a fire to help keep children safe and from harm.
• Most staff support children's learning and develop through a broad and varied curriculum well. Children show a very keen and enthusiastic attitude to learning. For example, outdoors, children remember to water strawberry and rhubarb plants. They carefully transport water from a water butt. Children show care for their environment and living things.
• Overall, staff enthusiastically present information to children in an age-appropriate way. However, this is not consistent with all staff and, occasionally, some staff do not always effectively extend children's learning to a high level. Staff enthusiastically demonstrate how to create 'lava' from a range of materials. Children listen intently and follow instructions when they fill a glass jar with cornflour. Children confidently express themselves, such as when they excitedly shout out 'it is bubbly' and 'it is fire'.
• The curriculum planning supports early communication and language skills and mathematical development well. For example, children listen to and act out stories that staff energetically read, such as a story about a gigantic turnip. Children begin to recognise number labels when they 'park' trikes and bikes, and successfully match numbered baskets with pretend carrots.
• Successful strategies involve parents with their children's learning and development from the start. Key staff regularly meet with parents. Together, they identify what children need to learn next and to consider children's experiences from home. Parents welcome online systems to view children's assessments and comment on the good progress children make.
• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the provider took swift action to ensure that all children continued to learn at home. Parents successfully accessed online activities that they could try at home so that children did not fall behind during national lockdown. The manager confirms that effective strategies helped to ensure that on children's return to the kindergarten they very quickly caught up.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop the already good-quality teaching, and to extend children's learning during the implementation of the curriculum to the highest level.