Little Explorers - Royal George Road

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff warmly greet children in a friendly environment. This helps children to settle well into their surroundings and to feel safe and secure. The staff have created a calm and soothing environment for the youngest children. They blow bubbles, and the children respond with awe and wonder and use their fingers to pop the bubbles when they land on the carpet. They show their delight by their facial expressions and staff enthusiastically share their joy.

Staff and children make good use of the resources that are available to them. Children build on skills they have gained in the nursery and use their imaginations during their play. For example, children link up with each other and use construction materials to create lawn-mowers. They connect objects together to make a long stick and put a wheel on the bottom to enable it to roll along the floor. They become deeply engrossed in their role play and make-believe, pretending to cut the grass. Children are developing strong foundations to explore their creativity.

The staff have high expectations of children's behaviour. They are consistent when reinforcing appropriate rules and boundaries. This gives children a clear understanding of what is expected of them. The staff recognise the children's achievements and praise them generously. Children are encouraged to understand their feelings and emotions and to be kind to each other. This supports children's personal, social and emotional development and creates a culture of respect.

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

• Managers have implemented a well-thought-out curriculum that is designed to improve children's learning in specific areas of development. Staff understand what they want children to learn and successfully teach them and build on their skills. With positive interactions that are rich in quality, children are getting meaningful learning across all areas of development.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are supported well. Managers and staff work together to ensure targeted support is provided for children at the earliest opportunity. They seek professional involvement and advice where needed. This contributes to all children making good progress in their learning and development.
• All the staff are kind and caring and form positive relationships with the children. Each key person has a precise knowledge of the individual children in their group. This includes children's interests and experiences and the languages they hear at home. This enables the key person to use children's unique understanding and experiences to give context to their learning. However, not all staff working in the same room have the same insight into the languages and heritages of all the children. Therefore, their interactions are not always as sharply targeted.
• Children have developed good hygiene routines. Staff consistently reinforce why it is important to wash their hands before meals and after going to the toilet. They model the behaviour they expect from the children and wash their hands with them. Children have strong foundations for keeping themselves healthy and developing good self-care skills.
• Overall, staff plan a range of activities that children enjoy and which support their learning. However, some activities are organised more effectively than others. For example, a small group of children engage in a painting activity. Other children want to join in the activity and stand with their aprons on and observe. Although children wait patiently, staff don't always recognise when activities can easily be adapted to accommodate all children wanting to join in.
• Staff regularly risk assess the environment to make sure that it is safe and secure for children to play and explore. They talk to children about being safe and explain to them why this is important. They value the children's opinions and comments and involve them when identifying risks. Children feel respected and develop a positive sense of self.
• Managers and leaders have created an environment that is reflective. They seek to continually improve provision and make enhancements where necessary. Managers and leaders have systems in place that closely monitor practice to ensure that children are receiving the best care.
• Parent partnership is strong, and staff value parents as partners in their children's development. Parents express their appreciation for the sensitive care and the education their children receive. They explain that they feel they can go to the management team with any concerns, and they feel these would be handled sufficiently and appropriately. This creates a culture of mutual respect and trust.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen information-sharing between staff so that the precise knowledge of each child, held by their key person, is communicated effectively to all those who care for the child
• support all staff to consider if activities can be adapted to include all children wanting to take part.