Little Badgers Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and confident to start their day at this welcoming and friendly playgroup. They quickly immerse themselves in their chosen play. For example, they rush over to the home corner and begin making pretend drinks and food for their friends and staff. The staff are consistently kind and attentive, which helps to support children's emotional well-being and a sense of belonging.

Staff promote healthy lifestyles, ensuring that children spend quality time outdoors daily to help to develop their physical skills. Children learn about the importance of healthy eating and talk to staff about foods that are 'good' and 'bad' for them. They have good opportunities to develop their large and small muscles as they carefully move over wooden planks, and use pipettes to suck up water, building strength, balance and good coordination. Children are becoming increasingly independent in the playgroup. They pour their own drinks and use safety knives at snack time to cut up their fruit. Children are beginning to take responsibility for their environment. They talk about what packages can be recycled from their lunch box and what needs to go into the bin.

Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) are supported well by the caring staff team. The staff work closely with a range of external professionals to seek the help and support that children need. Staff know children well and develop targeted learning to be sure these children make the progress they are capable of.

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

• Since the last inspection, the manager has worked closely with the local authority to improve on the provision for children. She and her staff have adapted the curriculum to be sure that, overall, this meets the learning needs of all children in the setting. The manager has devised a system to monitor staff's performance which, on the whole, has had a positive impact on teaching practice.
• Staff plan a broad curriculum for children, including tailored support for children with SEND. Staff follow the interests of children and ensure resources reflect this and help to spark their curiosity. Children show a positive attitude to learning and staff interact well with them. When children pretend to make ice creams, they ask staff what flavours they would like, how many scoops and tell them to 'eat it quickly before it melts'. However, there are times that some staff do not always know what they intend children to learn during their play. Therefore, some planned activities do not consistently build on what children know and need to know next.
• Staff support children's communication and language skills well, this includes children with SEND. They adapt the way they speak with children depending on their skills and abilities. Staff offer smaller communication groups to help those who are less confident with their speech. This enables these children to be heard and to practise their speaking skills. Staff introduce words such as 'telescope' to children as they pretend to look for ships.
• Staff build positive partnerships with parents. They offer regular updates to parents, both verbally and through inviting them into the setting. Staff share next steps with parents and encourage them to continue their child's learning at home and share any progress they observe. Parents comments are positive and they feel fully informed of their child's development. They praise the kind and caring manager and her staff team.
• Overall, staff are supported well by the manager through regular meetings and monitoring of their practice. The manager ensures that all staff complete mandatory training, which has a positive impact on their knowledge. However, she does not use what she knows of staff's skills to focus on offering development opportunities to help them build their understanding of how to support children's learning even further.
• Staff implement 'golden rules' to help children understand the expectations of the playgroup. Children listen to staff and behave well. They repeat the rules to their peers at times when they believe rules have been broken, showing they understand what has been enforced. Staff teach children to use sand timers when they want a turn with a toy. Staff talk to them about how this helps them to learn how to 'wait' and 'be patient' for their turn. Children respond respectfully to instructions given to them by staff and happily follow the routines established.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• help staff to clearly identify what they intend for children to learn from the activities they provide
• focus professional development on enhancing staff's knowledge of how to support children's learning even further.