Little Delwood Kindergarten And Adventures

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children settle quickly in this welcoming kindergarten. Children say goodbye to their parents and confidently join their friends. Children develop strong bonds with their key person. They ask for help when needed. Staff readily engage in discussions with children, valuing their thoughts and ideas. This helps them to feel safe and secure.

The manager leads a dedicated team who have high ambitions for children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND). Children make good progress from their starting points.

Staff provide a wide range of activities and resources, both inside and outside. Children choose their play and display high levels of engagement. Children have a positive attitude to learning and readily accept challenges. For example, they persevere to count the many spoonfuls of oats needed to fill a large saucepan.

Children's behaviour is respectful to staff and to each other. Children listen and respond to each other laughing together when a child puts his name card upside down on his coat peg.

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

• Staff develop children's confidence and independence. For example, children use the toilet and wash their hands on their own. They select their snack and pour their own drinks. Children change their shoes and find their coats to go in the garden with minimal help. They flip their coat over their head with immense pride.
• Staff help children to develop a love of books. For example, children enjoy interactive stories and they excitedly jump up to re-enact climbing Jack's beanstalk. Staff read books animatedly, which helps to capture children's attention and bring stories to life.
• Children enjoy group activities, such as memory games. However, staff are not fully effective in considering how to engage different-aged children during group times. This results in children waiting for long periods.
• Staff provide a language-rich environment. They teach new vocabulary describing a 'lullaby' as a little song that helps us go to sleep. When train tracks join up, staff explain they 'connect'. Children anticipate phrases in stories. They boldly chant the giant's 'Fee, Fi, Fo, Fum!'
• Children explore with a natural curiosity. For example, children select small sprigs of herbs to make magical potions. Children are excited to discover worms as they dig in the garden. Children ask staff how many worms they found earlier and eagerly calculate the new total. Staff investigate each newly unearthed item with children, which increases the value of their finds.
• The manager is committed to getting prompt additional support for children if required. She builds strong relationships with other professionals. As a result, children with SEND make good progress.
• Staff feel very well supported in the kindergarten. They enjoy their work and feel valued by management and the rest of the team. Staff understand that some children may not want to join in speaking activities. However, they do not always consider how to help less-confident children actively participate in other ways.
• Staff take the children on daily outings in the community. For example, they make good use of the local woods and visit the church. They took flowers to the church when the Queen died and laid a wreath for Remembrance Day. These experiences strengthen the children's memory of events. They remember that we no longer have a Queen, and now have a King.
• Parents speak very warmly about the staff and the manager. Their children have developed a love of rhymes and stories at the kindergarten. They have noticed that they are more sociable. Parents know what their children are learning from regular messages. They appreciate the feedback that they receive.
• Staff identify what they want to teach children, such as the use of scissors. They research teaching strategies and plan opportunities for children to practise their skills. For example, they offer children scissors at lunchtime to open food packets.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• review the organisation of group times, to help improve challenge and reduce times children spend waiting to contribute
• strengthen staff understanding of strategies to encourage children to contribute their thoughts and ideas in different ways.