Little Woodland Tribe @Ridgewell

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are warmly greeted and welcomed into this unique outdoor pre-school. The manager and her team have created an exciting, child-friendly, and inspiring environment in which children can learn. The team provide children with a broad curriculum that fully supports all areas of learning and the skills they need to develop independence for lifelong learning. The manager and her team are very committed and passionate about the potential for learning in an outdoor environment. They are knowledgeable of the children attending, attentive and nurturing. Therefore, children demonstrate they are very confident, feel safe and are comfortable in their care. They excitedly arrive, keen to explore, and leave their parents with ease.

Staff create many invitations to learn. They understand the importance of building on what children already know and their interests. Staff demonstrate a clear understanding of how to extend and develop children's next steps in their development. For example, children show increased fascination in bones and the skeletal remains of an owl. They have curious minds, ask lots of questions and recall information that they have previously learned. They compare the size of the skeleton with that of dinosaurs and make predications as to who has bigger bones. An effective key-person system is in place which means children and their parents have formed trusting and secure relationships.

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

• Staff provide a language-rich environment. They model language well and engage children in running commentaries throughout activities. Children's speech and language development is good. They demonstrate a wide vocabulary and are confident speakers. For example, they excitedly find a spider dangling from a web. They are fascinated as to how this happened and ask questions as to what they need to do to help the spider.
• Staff provide children with many opportunities to develop their literacy skills. Children can access a quiet cosy den to enjoy books. They sit on logs in groups to share stories and have immense fun as they participate in interactive stories and singing. They are encouraged to be aware of environmental sounds and have good listening skills. They explain to visitors to the setting about the 'Christmas' treasure hunt and how to match pictures they find in the wood among the trees, to those on their clip boards.
• Children relish their time at pre-school. They have a strong sense of self. They understand the high expectations of the staff and their behaviour is very good. They are busy, inquisitive learners. They take responsibility and have the skills they need to be independent and make choices, for example, when they want to have a refreshment and snack. They are fully supported through activities and learn to regulate their feelings and the consequences their actions have on others. They move with ease around the magical outdoor environment and know the importance of keeping themselves safe. They are caring and explain to visitors to the pre-school about the 'slippery' steps, remind one another about not picking plants or berries and understand the importance of wearing more clothes when they feel cold.
• Children have formed close and positive bonds with their key person who know their children very well. Staff speak to children with genuine kindness and respect. While children learn in an outdoor environment, all activities are fully inclusive and are planned to ensure all children can participate. The special educational needs coordinator is knowledgeable of her role. She effectively engages with parents and other agencies involved with the children to ensure all children receive the support they need to make good progress.
• The directors and the manager positively encourage and facilitate staff's continuous professional development. There is a culture of evaluation, and the manager is forward thinking and ambitious for the children and her team. Staff demonstrate they are very happy in their roles and enjoy their time at work. They feel fully supported in their own professional development and speak of feeling valued and their individual skills recognised.
• Partnerships with parents are good. They describe the pre-school as 'fantastic' and how the experiences offered have enhanced their children's lives. They comment that every child is made to feel 'special'. Parents feel that their children have made good progress since attending pre-school and that the staff are approachable, friendly, and very supportive. Staff use effective monitoring and assessments to identify what children need to learn next, and they share these with parents. However, some parents say they would like more information about how learning takes place outdoors, and specific information or examples about how to promote learning further at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide parents with more specific information about how their children are learning and ways in which they can support their child's learning at home to help them make even better progress.