Madcaps

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create an environment to support children's curiosity about the world around them. Pre-school children use their arm muscles as they dig and scoop up soil as they search for insects. Children show excitement as they find worms which they eagerly show their friends. Staff help children handle the worms with care and talk to them about where the worms live. Children are gentle, placing the worms safely back in the soil. Toddlers are supported to take turns to stroke recently hatched ducklings. Staff remind children to be quiet, so as not to frighten them. Children learn the parts of the duckling's body, such as 'webbed feet' and 'beak.' This helps children learn new vocabulary.

Staff provide activities within the daily routine to help children develop their early independence skills. For example, children enthusiastically chop fruit for snack. Staff demonstrate how to use knives safely, which children readily copy. Children concentrate as they pour milk into beakers and peel small oranges. Staff offer children a helping hand when needed. Even the youngest children recognise changes in the daily routine. Toddlers readily help staff set out mats for story time and pre-school children work together to tidy away resources in preparation for lunchtime. This helps children learn to do as much for themselves as possible.

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

• Managers and staff identify children with special educational needs and/or disabilities early. They work closely with parents to establish effective strategies to help all children make good progress. Parents say they feel listened to by staff and their children are genuinely cared for. They say their children are making progress with their communication and social skills.
• Managers and staff know their key children well, including what makes them unique. They determine appropriate next steps and understand how to embed these within children's play. In addition, staff recognise the benefit of enhancing experiences for children within the local community. They take children on bus journeys, trips to the library, and to buy fruit at the market. This helps to provide children with access to wider experiences that they may otherwise not have.
• Staff plan activities for children to develop their small-muscle skills. These activities help children practise the skills that are needed for early writing. For example, children are challenged by staff to stretch, squash, pinch and roll play dough into different shapes. In addition, toddlers create pictures of chicks. They use their hands to make prints with paint on paper. Toddlers use their fingers to carefully stick feathers, eyes and beaks onto their paintings. Children proudly show staff their individual creations.
• Children have multiple opportunities to develop their muscle strength and coordination skills. Pre-school children join a group activity where they pretend to be different animals. They run around the room, moving their arms up and down as they pretend to be an owl flapping its wings. Toddlers enjoy outdoor play where they are supported to safely step from one tree stump to another.
• Staff help children to develop their early mathematical knowledge. They help children count the number of tree stumps they step across. Staff support children to recognise shapes within the environment. When children wash toy frogs in the water tray, staff encourage children to say, '1,2,3 splash!'
• Staff are good role models. They encourage children to use their manners and share resources. In turn, children show kindness, checking their friends are okay during play. However, staff do not always help pre-school children understand what they expect of them. For example, children express being upset when their friend has taken their chair from them. Staff respond by telling the upset child to get another chair. This does not help children learn the impact of their actions on others.
• Leaders are reflective and have a clear vision for the future. They continuously strive to adapt the environment, to drive improvements and strengthen the staff team further. For example, staff are currently undertaking training to enhance the outdoor play area to support children's imaginative development. Staff say they enjoy working at the setting and feel well supported.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop and implement consistent behaviour management strategies which build on pre-school children's understanding of behaviour expectations.