Kingshurst Caterpillars CIO

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and joyful in this warm and friendly setting. Staff are attentive to their needs and give lots of praise throughout the day. Children form strong attachments with the kind and caring staff, which helps children to feel safe and secure. Staff include children in their planning, and children have the opportunity to set up their learning environment each morning. This helps to boost their self-confidence as they engage in decision-making.

Children behave well and know the rules and routines. As children come in for snack time, they independently wash their hands and sit down at the table. Staff engage children in thoughtful discussions about fruits and where they come from. This helps children to think and ponder about the world they live in. Consequently, children decide to plant their apple seeds in the planting area. When children leave the table, they find their names on a board and move them to another board to show that they have had their snack. When staff ring a bell to indicate it is time to tidy up, children listen attentively and work together to tidy up their toys. These tasks help children to gain a sense of responsibility.

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

• Children enjoy playing with sand and water. They use their hands to squeeze the sand through their fingers and delight in these sensory experiences. Staff skilfully support non-verbal children well. For example, as children play, staff use repetition of singular words and actions to explain what words mean.
• Staff work hard to instil a love of books and reading. Children relax and unwind in the cosy book corner. They cuddle up to a member of staff and listen thoughtfully as staff read to them. Staff have set up a lending library to encourage children and parents to take books to read at home. Some books on offer are picture books of children in the setting enjoying certain activities from the past. Children enjoy looking through these and talk about what they have done. This helps children to build on their language and communication. Children also access books that parents provide, detailing special festivals that their child celebrates. This helps to nurture children's awareness of, and respect for, other's beliefs.
• Leaders and managers plan a wide and varied curriculum for all children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff competently identify when children require additional support and know how to make referrals to external agencies. Leaders and managers continuously reflect on practice and make suggestions on how to extend learning opportunities. However, staff need further support in the implementation of these suggestions because opportunities to extend learning are not always considered. For example, during a planting activity, staff do not fully explore with children what the seeds will turn into and what they need to help them grow.
• Children experiment with different sounds and noises while they play with musical instruments. Staff support children by singing and exposing children to rhythm and rhymes. They sing along and enjoy moving their bodies to the different beats. This helps children to develop their literacy and creativity skills.
• Children use their imagination to build a fire station using building blocks. They work together to build a big structure. This increases children's social skills because they learn to share resources and work collectively. Overall, staff support children well, and children are immersed in play. However, staff do not consistently support children in their mathematical development. For example, when staff model how to count blocks, they do not always support children to join in to help them develop their counting skills and understanding of quantity.
• Parents are very happy with the service provided. They feel able to support learning at home. They express their delight in their child's progression. Parents feel that their child is ready for their next stage in education. They talk of the good relations that staff have with the host school staff and how this helps their children prepare for their eventual move to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen and incorporate the teaching of mathematics more consistently throughout the day to accelerate children's mathematical development further
• support staff in the implementation of an ambitious curriculum for all children that builds on what they know and can do already and fully extends their learning.