Kings Castle Lodge

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and very keen to attend. They move around freely and make their own activity choices in the safe and secure play areas. Children create their own imaginative games, such as acting out their home experiences and excavating with construction vehicles in sand and stones. Staff provide good role models who help children develop extremely positive attitudes. Children share, include one another kindly in play and make friends. They learn to take responsibility for their actions and to look after their environment. Staff celebrate children's achievements, such as reading out kindness cards to acknowledge their positive behaviour, which children receive with pride.

Children benefit from good-quality experiences with a focus on nature-based learning. They go for local walks to explore the environment through the seasons and explore the life cycle of plants and animals. Children learn how to care for the environment, such as keeping the oceans clean and actively recycling waste. They grow and harvest fruit, vegetables and herbs to cook with and to share in the community. For example, they baked a blackberry pie from fruits picked on a walk to share with local care home residents. This helps children to develop a good understanding of their world and to become responsible individuals.

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

• Staff plan and deliver a broad curriculum to support children's development. They monitor and assess their progress accurately from the start to identify next steps for their learning. Staff are clear about what they intend children to learn and provide activities to help them in achieving these learning goals.
• Staff allow children time and space to complete the activities they choose, as well as joining in at appropriate times to motivate them to learn more. For example, they encourage younger children to solve practical problems and extend challenges for older children to sequence numbers and make calculations. However, on occasion, staff organise group activities when the indoor playroom is very noisy. This distracts some children who lose concentration and interest.
• Children gain the skills they need to help prepare them well for school and their future learning. They are motivated learners who develop very good independence and practical skills from a young age. They learn to change their shoes, manage their own personal hygiene, serve themselves at meals and to tidy up after themselves.
• Children learn new words regularly to build their vocabulary. For example, they rub ingredients together when making bread to understand what 'crumbly' means and learn the names of many different animals. Staff model language well in their play with children. However, on occasion, some staff provide a lot of narrative and questions without allowing younger children time to think and talk themselves.
• Staff help children to develop healthy lifestyles. Children enjoy continuous access to outdoor play, go for walks and join in physical activities to develop their strength, balance and coordination. For example, staff provide ocean-themed yoga in which children move in different ways, reflecting sea life. Children learn about healthy eating and how to care for their bodies.
• Leaders have a good oversight of the setting and ensure all staff are suitable to care for children. They nurture staff's well-being and provide opportunities to celebrate their achievements. Staff continually build on their knowledge and skills through training and development. This helps them to develop a good understanding of how to safeguard children's welfare and to support their learning.
• Staff quickly identify when a child is not making expected progress. They work effectively with parents and external professionals to provide targeted support for the children. Leaders ensure any additional funding for children is used responsibly in order to have the most impact on their learning.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Key persons communicate well with parents and other settings children attend to meet their care and developmental needs consistently. Parents speak highly of the setting, stating, for example, how much their children enjoy exploring the natural environment and how they have grown in confidence.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• improve the organisation of planned group activities in the playroom to help maintain all children's engagement and interest
• develop staff interactions with children to allow younger children more time to think and talk to develop their communication skills even further.