Little Pickles Daycare

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure. They confidently separate from parents and are keen to talk to staff when they arrive. This shows the positive relationships children have with the staff. Children are encouraged to talk about how they are feeling. For example, staff ask them to choose a picture of a happy or sad face when they arrive and ask them what they have chosen and why. Children tell staff that they are happy because they 'play on the trampoline with Daddy'. Children behave well and learn to be kind to their friends.

Children show a keen interest to explore and investigate their surroundings. In the garden, children are excited to mix together water and flavoured teabags. Staff have high expectations of children's abilities and ask them about what they can see and smell. Children recognise when the water turns red and that it smells of strawberries. Children learn new physical skills outdoors. When they put a hoop around their bodies, staff show them how to make it spin. Consequently, children follow instructions and try to spin the hoop around themselves. Children play with their peers who are the same age, indoors and outdoors, to help reduce the amount of people they come into contact with.

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

• The manager and staff support children with special educational needs and/or disabilities particularly well. Those children who require additional support are quickly identified by staff and targets are put in place to meet their individual needs.
• The manager monitors the progress that all children make in their learning. She uses this information to identify further professional development opportunities for staff to help them to close any gaps in children's learning. The manager identified that staff needed more training to help them to broaden and extend children's experiences of communication and language. As a result, staff ask children to make up their own stories and to share their thoughts and ideas.
• Staff encourage children to talk about their knowledge of different colours. When children use paint, staff ask them what colour they make when they mix blue and yellow together. However, if staff working with children are not their key person, they do not always help them to build on what they know. For example, they do not ask children to recognise colours that they are not familiar with.
• Staff encourage children to develop a sense of responsibility. They ask children to help them to clean tables after activities and give children stickers to praise their achievements. Children are keen to show visitors their sticker and explain the reason why they got it. They demonstrate a sense of pride in what they have done.
• At the start of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic, staff kept in touch with families. For example, children were invited to listen to staff read stories on social media. This helped to support children's love of books. However, staff do not ensure that all parents receive information about what children need to learn next and how they can build on children's learning at home.
• Staff promote positive behaviour and are good role models for the children. They use good manners when they speak to each other. Staff talk to children about how they can share when they want the same toy. Children learn how to take turns.
• Staff use the curriculum to plan different opportunities for children, such as to develop their imaginative skills. They play alongside children and pretend to be on a 'magic carpet'. Staff ask children what they can see when they travel high in the sky. Children pretend that they can see the 'beach' and 'park'.
• Staff place a high priority on supporting children to be independent. They encourage children to pour their drinks during snack times and to dress themselves. This helps children to learn the skills they need in preparation for future learning and their eventual move on to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen all staff's understanding of what children need to learn next to help them build further on their learning
• share information with all parents about what children need to learn next and support them to build on these skills at home.