Maidstone Nursery Pre-School and Holiday Club

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

All children are happy, confident and settled. They are keen to join in with the interesting activities that staff plan for them. For example, children enthusiastically learn about the life cycle of a butterfly. They create a large model caterpillar and explore patterns as they paint butterflies. Children enjoy stories and recognise letters of the alphabet with confidence. Children are eager to explore and investigate. They are excited to watch what happens when they mix liquids to make an erupting volcano. All children are independent. They are confident to choose their own play and complete their own tasks.

Children are polite and behave well. They make friends and enjoy each other's company. Children learn about the importance of healthy lifestyles. For example, they talk about different food groups and the benefits on their bodies, such as calcium being good for their teeth and bones. All children develop good physical skills. They confidently balance and climb on equipment, such as they walk along logs and use climbing walls. Staff use additional funding effectively to meet the individual learning needs of children. For instance, they have purchased outdoor equipment to build on children's physical abilities.

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

• All staff establish positive relationships with children. They get to know each child and their personalities well. This helps staff continue to plan activities that they know will motivate children to learn. Staff support all children to make good progress. This includes children with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language. For example, they attend specialist training to fully understand how to support individual children. Staff use children's home languages alongside speaking English, to help children's understanding and extend their English vocabulary.
• The manager and staff build and maintain positive relationships with parents. They communicate with them daily. Staff keep parents well involved and informed in their children's achievements. For example, they share photos of what children have enjoyed learning. Staff routinely share useful information with parents, this includes healthy eating tips and ideas.
• Staff know if their key children attend another early years setting. They discuss they would make contact with them to talk about any concerns about children's development, if necessary. However, staff do not routinely provide the highest level of consistency to children's shared care and learning experiences. They do not yet make the most out of more effective ways to communicate and share information with settings that they also attend.
• All staff evaluate their practice together. For example, at the end of each day they discuss how well they have engaged children in their learning experiences.
• Staff use their findings to enhance their future activity plans. The manager closely monitors the good quality of care and teaching that staff provide. She routinely observes staff teaching children and provides them with helpful feedback to support their future performance.
• The manager and staff attend regular training and build on their already good knowledge and skills. They have recently learned about the different ways to motivate children in outdoor learning experiences. As a result, children are more engaged outdoors and enjoy more opportunities. This includes collecting natural items, such as moss and fir cones, to build an insect house and bird nest.
• Overall, staff support children to develop some good communication skills. Children show positive attitudes to their learning and are confident to share their ideas and thoughts during role-play activities. Staff speak to the children as they play. However, they do not consistently ask them thought-provoking questions and give them enough time to think and then respond when they do.
• Staff provide children with good opportunities to understand the similarities and differences of other people outside of their own experiences and communities. This includes the traditions of other cultures and countries. For example, children use chop sticks to 'write' Chinese symbols with paint as they learn about Chinese New Year.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• develop a more consistent approach to the sharing of information with other settings children attend
• extend staff's use of questioning to provide even more opportunities to challenge children's critical thinking skills.