Manor Childcare Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy, well cared for and safe in this warm and welcoming centre. They are supported by experienced staff who are passionate about their role. Children play in bright, clean and well-resourced environments. They make independent choices from a wide range of age-appropriate toys. Children, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), are eager to join in the activities offered. For example, toddlers delight in exploring the texture of paint. They mix paint to create different shades while describing it as 'soft' and 'smooth'.

Staff have high expectations of children's learning, overall. They focus on helping the children to become confident, skilful learners who are keen to talk and investigate. They plan activities based on the interests and individual needs of the children. They manage the care needs of the babies well. Staff and children show kindness and respect towards each other throughout the day.

Children talk with relish about animals, cooking, nature and characters from books they have been learning about. They enjoy learning and behave well. They use new knowledge and words in their play. Parents speak highly of the staff at the centre. They highly value the close relationships the staff foster with them and appreciate the regular updates on their child's progress.

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

• Communication and language are a key focus throughout the centre. Well-trained staff encourage a love of stories and rhyme. Children listen to stories and join with songs enthusiastically, copying actions and repeating words. They find quiet areas to act out stories they have heard and access books of interest to them. Children, including children with SEND, gain confidence in communicating and gaining new knowledge.
• Experienced staff organise learning activities so that children can ask questions and explore their interests. For example, in the base for three- and four-year-olds, staff respond to children's curiosity about tigers by encouraging talk about the characteristics of tigers and providing orange dough and mark-making tools for children to create animal stripes. This helps children to develop their own ideas while practising their manipulative skills to shape the dough.
• Children are developing knowledge of mathematics throughout the day. For example, while lining up to go outside, they gleefully count how many children there are. They say, 'Eight children plus me makes nine.' Other children role play shops, counting and sorting the ingredients they will need to make vegetable soup. This demonstrates children's keen interest in number as well as an understanding of using mathematical language in play.
• Staff talk about exercise and the importance of having a nutritious diet. Children have opportunities to prepare healthy options in the centre together. For example, at snack time, children are given a choice of fruit, freshly made pizza and water. Children learn the importance of hygiene through activities. Staff remind children to wash their hands and ask them if they know why to check their understanding. This helps children develop social skills and learn the importance of good health.
• Staff manage the care of babies well. They implement flexible routines that mirror those from home and consistently share positive interactions with babies. For example, staff keep eye contact, talk and sing while changing babies' nappies. This supports children's early development well.
• Staff care deeply about the children and want the best for them. However, staff have not thought well enough about how the curriculum is sequenced to support children as they progress from the birth to two-year-olds' base to the three- and four-year-olds' base. This means staff are not consistently building on children's learning to plan their future development effectively.
• Staff provide children with a range of meaningful activities to extend their wider development. For example, they introduce children to the celebrations of different families and communities. Children go on trips to the farm and have a series of visitors who talk to them about the world around them. Children learn to respect other people.
• Children are kind and friendly. They take turns and follow instructions. Children with SEND have specific plans in place and multi-agency access to support their development. Parents state they are given resources to help them manage their children's learning and behaviours at home. Over time, this consistent approach and understanding of need helps all children to become increasingly independent and behave well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• sequence the curriculum more effectively so that it builds on what children know and can do as they progress through the centre.