Little Cedars

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Leaders and staff make full use of the onsite school's grounds and resources to provide children with a wide range of learning experiences both indoors and outdoors. Leaders ensure that children benefit from a wealth of enrichment opportunities. Pre-school children develop their understanding of the world and their physical development in the 'earth centre' and woodland areas. Staff plan regular outings for two- and three-year-old children in the local community, such as the library and local farms. Leaders make use of specialist teachers for outdoor learning, physical education and music. These experiences enhance the knowledge for all children across the seven areas of learning and engage them well. Children are enthusiastic learners.

Staff provide children with nurturing interactions that help them to form close bonds with them. Nappy changing time is a valuable part of the daily routine, where children benefit from the one-to-one interactions. Staff speak warmly to children and sing to help put them at ease. Staff are positive role models and children learn social cues from them which supports their behaviour management. Children show they feel happy, safe and secure in their care. Babies are confident to explore the indoor and outdoor areas. Staff mirror babies care routines from home to provide continuity and emotional security.

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

• Leaders monitor staff practice routinely and provide regular appraisals. Leaders provide staff with frequent, supportive training that reflect the priorities from their self-evaluation. For example, recent staff training has focused on supporting children with their behaviour and communication and language. However, the staff monitoring arrangements are not rigorous enough to identify where staff need further guidance to provide children with the best possible educational experiences.
• An effective key person system is in place. Staff have a detailed knowledge of each child's learning needs and interests. They use children's play interests to design the learning experiences. However, staff need further support to use the information they gather from observation and assessment to inform their planning and teaching for each child's development priorities.
• Leaders and staff are knowledgeable about child development. Leaders have designed a curriculum that reflects the development needs of all children and progresses their knowledge over time. A key aspect of the curriculum is to help children to develop their own voice and express their needs, wishes and ideas.
• Staff support children to be active learners. They identify when they need to allow children to explore for themselves and when they need to step in to assist. Children are independent learners. Staff skilfully ask children questions that challenge their thinking. For example, during role play, pre-school children consider the characters from the books they are reading and how they might respond in different situations.
• Leaders prioritise children's communication and language. They successfully support this aspect of children's development throughout the day and children progress well. Books, songs and rhyme are a key feature of their teaching. Staff provide intervention programmes when children need additional support with their language skills. This includes liaison with outside agencies, such as speech and language therapist and other health professionals. Staff send language boxes home for children to use with their parents.
• The physical development curriculum is carefully thought out. Leaders have recently increased the focus on supporting children's core strength. This includes ensuring the chairs are the correct size for children to support good sitting.
• Children benefit from opportunities to learn about the wider world and cultural diversity. Staff plan activities that help children to learn about a variety of celebrations. Two- and three-year-old children listen to music from around the world. They learn about the traditions of 'Lohri', such as throwing puffed rice and exploring the symbolism of fire.
• There is clear progression in Leaders' curriculum to support children to manage their feelings and behaviour. This includes introducing simple rules with babies and developing these to help two-year-old children to understand the expectations, including sharing and taking turns with friends. Pre-school children apply their knowledge of the reasons for the expectations to help set the golden rules for their classroom.
• Parent partnerships are effective. Staff take time to work with parents to understand each child's needs and provide daily opportunities to exchange information about children. This ensures that parents and staff have a current, shared understanding the child's needs. Parents share how staff are proactive in identifying and supporting children who experience language delay.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• monitor the quality of the staffs' practice with greater precision to identify and address all areas for development
• support staff to use information gathered from observation and assessment to precisely plan for each child's individual learning needs.