King David Nursery/Pre-School (Erith High Street)

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

The staff team implement a well-designed curriculum to support children's communication and language development. Staff create many opportunities for children to hear words and practise speaking at the setting. Leaders and staff have introduced a home-reading programme so that parents can share stories with children. This aims to support children's language and literacy development.

The staff team work closely with other professionals and implement effective learning strategies to help support children's listening and attention skills. Staff organise smaller group and one-to-one activities so that the teaching can be geared towards each child's specific needs. As a result, all children, including those who have additional learning needs, are making good progress in their learning and development.

Children have formed strong attachments with staff, and this helps them to feel safe and secure. Staff allow children to choose what they would like to play with and learn. Children are imaginative and eager to share their knowledge. For example, children use construction bricks to build a model that they refer to as a 'skeleton'. They explain how and why they made the model and are able to identify the different colours of bricks used.

Children are learning to understand the rules and boundaries of the setting. Staff encourage children to share and take turns and reinforce this throughout the day.

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

• Leaders have a clear vision to provide children with an ambitious and rich curriculum. They ensure that the needs of children and their families are at the heart of the curriculum and that no child is left behind. Leaders have a good overview of the progress that children are making. They confidently talk about how they are supporting children's learning and what they want them to learn next. They promptly identify and organise additional support for children with special educational needs and /or disabilities.
• Overall, staff understand what the curriculum aims are and have a good knowledge of children's abilities and next steps in their learning. Staff plan activities that complement what children already know and deepen their understanding further. For example, staff teach children to understand change and how things work by carrying out different experiments. However, at times, staff do not ensure that the planning and sequencing of the curriculum meet the age and developmental needs of the younger children. For example, staff ask younger children to sit and use pencils to colour in templates when children are not developmentally ready to take part in these activities.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff share information about what children are learning and how parents can support them further at home. Staff set homework tasks for the older children to help continuity and consistency in learning. Parents comment positively about the care and learning arrangements, and about the progress their children have made since joining the setting.
• The staff team support children's communication and language development well. Staff maintain positive interactions with children. Children who speak English as an additional language have made consistently good progress in their communication and language development. They talk using a wide range of vocabulary. They have become very confident and independent learners.
• Children benefit from eating healthy meals and snacks. Staff encourage children to wash their hands regularly and explain why they need to do so. This helps to support children's health and physical well-being. However, children have fewer opportunities to take age-appropriate risks in their play and build on their gross motor skills. Although staff provide some indoor physical activities and take the children out on trips, this is not embedded in the curriculum to ensure that children have regular access to outdoor learning to engage in robust physical play.
• Staff set clear rules and expectations for behaviour. They teach children to be kind to one another and encourage them to share and take turns. In addition, staff offer regular praise during activities to help boost children's self-esteem. This contributes positively to children's personal, social and emotional development as well as their attitudes to learning.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop further staff's understanding of how to plan and sequence the curriculum to meet the needs of the younger children
• improve the curriculum for supporting children's physical development, including the provision for regular access to outdoor play to help children take age-appropriate risks and build on their gross motor skills.