Linden Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are motivated, independent learners who persevere well on tasks with support from staff. The curriculum provides children with challenge to build and deepen their knowledge across the different areas of learning. Staff provide targeted support to encourage all children to make those next steps in their learning journey, including children with special educational needs. Staff work well with professionals to ensure that children get the support they need to make good progress from their initial starting points.

Staff engage in lots of dialogue with children and ask well-timed questions, encouraging children to talk about what they are doing and to think and recall knowledge. Many of the children speak English as an additional language and most of the staff are bilingual. Staff value children's home language and provide good levels of support to further aid children in learning English.

Staff recognise the importance of sequencing in learning and provide lots of opportunities for children to apply their learning in different ways. This helps children to grow in confidence and ensure that knowledge is embedded. Children learn about the names of different shapes and recall this knowledge well during different activities. They point out that an oval looks like an egg. Some children are also able to identify three-dimensional shapes.

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

• The curriculum is carefully designed to build on what children know and can do and to ensure that they are exposed to a range of challenging experiences. However, consideration needs to be given to the organisation and planning of whole-group activities. The abilities of the children are wide ranging and activities are not always beneficial to younger children's learning.
• Staff generally encourage children's communication and language well. Some children can identify the initial letter sound in their name but staff are not always consistent in their approach to using pure sounds and instead add additional sounds. For example, they say 'nu' instead of 'nnnn' and 'fu' instead of 'fffff'.
• Children are physically very able and enjoy a challenge. They are encouraged by staff to become increasingly independent, for example by putting on their coats and attempting the fastenings. This is just one of the ways in which they help to prepare children for their transitions to school. Children show good control as they skilfully balance on tyres and and safely manoeuvre bicycles around obstacles. A range of activities help children to develop strength in their hands and improve their control and coordination. For example, children engage in threading activities and use a range of tools, including tweezers, to transfer pom-poms into containers.
• Staff provide lots of opportunities for children to count during everyday activities. Staff keep the numbers small to ensure that children have a secure knowledge before progressing to larger numbers. Children set themselves challenges to match the numbers on a display to the corresponding number of scarecrows. They count the spots from one to 10 and match the corresponding number.
• Children are encouraged to develop a love of books. Books are taken outside to enjoy, as well as inside, and children enjoy looking at these both alone and with staff. Children talk about what they see and what is happening. This helps to develop their language. Staff support children's language by recognising and valuing children's home language and then repeating the words back to them in English to support their development.
• Staff work well in partnership with parents. They find out about what children can do when they first start at the playgroup. This allows them to successfully build on children's knowledge and skills and identify any gaps in learning. Parents value the regular feedback they receive on their child's progress and how they can best support their child. Policies and procedures are available in a variety of languages and staff provide good support for families and signpost them to additional services as needed.
• The team of staff work together effectively. They attend regular supervision sessions and staff meetings to reflect on their practice. Staff attend regular training to keep their knowledge up to date, which helps to improve outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider the arrangements and planning of whole-group activities to ensure that all children get the most from these sessions
• ensure that practice is consistent when supporting children's communication and language.