Lindens Early Years

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive with excitement and confidence, ready for their day. Staff welcome families with their kind, nurturing manner. They give parents time for discussion and the exchange of information to help to ensure that children are well supported during their day. All children, even those who have very recently started at the kindergarten, settle with ease. Parents leave happy knowing that their children are safe and secure and their needs are being met.

Leaders and staff have worked hard to improve since the previous inspection. They plan and implement an ambitious curriculum that follows the Steiner ethos, while building on what children already know and need to learn next. Younger children develop their imaginative skills when they catch 'fish' in the 'sea'. Staff facilitate learning by offering children a basket for their 'fish'. They ask children if they need 'water'. Children fetch a blue silk cloth and say 'here is some water fishes'. Staff and children engage in exciting, purposeful play together. Older children recall what they have already learned when they create a puppet show about princesses. Children develop their own narrative and share ideas to make an exciting show that they intently engage with for extended periods. Children develop deep imaginative skills and confidence to express themselves.

Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. Children strengthen their small hand muscles for early writing skills, for example, when they manipulate dough with their hands. In the garden, children climb trees and ropes and dig holes in the large sandpit. Children become physically confident.

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

• Children develop independence from an early age. Leaders have made changes to the daily routine to allow children time to develop their self-care skills. Young children remove their own slippers, put on their shoes and fetch their belongings at the end of their session. Staff are close by to provide support where needed. Older children set the table for snack, tend to their toileting needs, and confidently make choices in their play. Children learn the importance of being independent.
• Leaders and staff assess children regularly to enable them to identify any gaps in learning. Leaders make referrals to outside agencies to ensure that children get the support they need. Staff use 'focus weeks' to gain a deeper insight into children's learning and development. They use the information that they find to develop children's next steps in learning and inform their planning. Leaders invite parents to share children's learning from home and have regular discussions with key persons about what their children are learning at kindergarten. Children make good progress from their starting points.
• Children generally display good behaviour. When younger children notice that a friend is playing alone, they join them and excitedly engage in building the rainbow blocks together. In the garden, older children hold hands and skip while they sing happily. However, at times, younger children take toys from others and they become upset. When staff intervene, they do not always support children to return the toys to their friends, nor do they explain why this is behaviour is inappropriate. This results in some children not always understanding that their actions may have an impact on others.
• Leaders and staff have excellent partnerships with parents. Many parents share their positive views of the kindergarten. They say that the staff are very kind and approachable and their children love attending. Leaders regularly invite parents into the kindergarten to join celebrations of festivals, have picnics for new parents to meet, and parents' evening to discuss their children's learning. Leaders value parents' input and they are well supported.
• Staff are good role models for the children. They speak to children respectfully and engage them in meaningful discussions. At snack time, children share their experiences from home, such as when they discuss what they had for breakfast and their favourite foods. However, at times, not all staff identify ways to develop children's thinking skills. For example, in the garden, despite children sharing their mermaid chalk drawings with staff and discussing where mermaids live and that they eat 'anemones', staff do not engage fully, which results in some children losing interest.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to consistently manage children's behaviour effectively and help children to understand the impact that their actions may have on others
• enhance staff's use of questions so that children have time to think and respond, to extend their thinking even further.