Little Stars at The Beeches

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff develop good relationships with children. Children are happy and settled as they leave their parents at the door. They excitedly enter the nursery ready to have fun in the well-organised environment. This demonstrates that children feel safe and secure in the care of the staff. Staff plan a curriculum that is based on children's interests. They use their starting points to plan activities and build on what children already know and can do, to further extend learning across all areas. Children are eager to participate in activities based on their interests. Children thoroughly enjoy taking part in making 'potions and spells'. Staff help them to identify different ingredients and encourage the children to use words to describe what they are doing.

Staff have high expectations for all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff monitor children closely to identify any gaps in their development and work closely with other professionals. This contributes to the good progress that children make from their starting points. Staff offer plenty of opportunities for fresh air and a range of activities in the well-resourced outdoor area. This offers opportunities that support children to develop their physical skills. For example, children show good control of their bodies as they climb and balance on the play equipment.

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

• Children learn how to keep themselves healthy. They understand the importance of washing their hands and confidently tell staff they are 'washing away the germs'. Staff encourage children to serve themselves breakfast cereal and support them to pour their own milk from a jug. This helps children to develop their independence at mealtimes.
• Partnership working is strong. Staff have developed a relationship with the local primary school. They work closely to share information about children's individual needs and help prepare children for school. Children join in with forest school sessions on the school site. This helps to support them to be more confident when they move on to school.
• Staff plan sensory play experiences for children. They recognise the children's emerging interests. They encourage children to use their hands to explore the textures of a pumpkin. Staff consistently adapt their interactions to fully support the children's enjoyment and extend their learning further.
• Children are developing an understanding of differences within the world around them. They learn to be respectful of each other and have opportunities to discuss what makes them unique. For example, children talk about their individual differences, such as eye colour. They speak about their families and create pictures of their home and the people who live with them.
• Staff have high expectations for children's behaviour. Children develop good social skills and are learning to make friends. When they arrive, they are pleased to see each other and are eager to begin their play. Children behave well. They are kind to each other and share resources. For example, children break a piece of dough in half to share between them. Children proudly announce that 'they are kind to each other'.
• Partnerships with parents are good. Staff speak with parents at drop-off and collection times, and encourage them to view children's learning records. However, systems are not consistently in place for staff to share ideas with parents on how to support and enhance children's learning at home.
• Leaders display a strong commitment to providing good-quality experiences for the children who attend. They form strong relationships with the staff team and have high expectations for what children can achieve. Leaders and managers identify areas for improvement and provide staff with training opportunities to enhance their knowledge and skills. However, leaders do not successfully monitor the programme for professional development. This does not ensure that the training that staff attend directly and positively impacts the quality of learning experiences for all children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• enhance the support given to parents for home learning ideas, in order to extend children's development further
• strengthen ways to monitor staff's professional development to ensure training is fully understood and used to enhance the quality of learning experiences for all children.