Mayfield House Kindergarten

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and settled in this homely environment. They form close relationships with staff and their peers and actively include them in their play. Children are confident and chat happily to visitors and staff.

Children work well together to solve problems and carry out daily routines. Younger children play with trucks. They consider how to push the trucks up a slope without them rolling back down. Older children help to lay the table at lunchtime. They work together to make sure they have enough cups and cloths for each of the children.

Children's literacy skills are promoted well. Older children are able to recognise their own names and those of their friends. All children enjoy looking at books and listening to a story. Babies and younger children point to familiar objects and begin to turn the pages. Older children talk about the story and share their own personal experiences. They know that a famous fictional bear only eats marmalade. Staff skilfully extend this concept as they teach children that real bears eat fish and honey. Children watch a recording of bears in the wild who visit people's gardens to look for food and think where the bears might live if they were at nursery.

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

• The provider, who is also the manager, has a clear overview of the curriculum and what she expects children to learn. She observes staff and monitors their practice. She recognises staff's strengths and weaknesses and provides support to staff to help them gain confidence. Although the provider carries out supervision meetings with staff, these do not focus on identifying training needs to help raise the quality of teaching and improve the already good practice.
• Children's behaviour is generally good. They learn to share, take turns, and play nicely with their friends. On the whole, methods of behaviour management are suitable for the ages of the children. However, occasionally, staff do not deal with behaviour in the most appropriate way.
• Staff plan activities based on children's interests and individual next steps for learning. Children make good progress in their learning. They generally enjoy the activities and are eager to take part. They persevere at their chosen task, such as drawing a recognisable picture of the Titanic, until they achieve their goal and proudly show their finished picture to staff and their friends.
• Children enjoy the time they spend outside in the newly refurbished garden. Toddlers transport sand in trucks and experiment as they roll cars and trucks down ramps to see which ones move and which stay still. They negotiate different slopes and surfaces with confidence. Older children balance on a cantilever as they carefully walk across a plank and work out the tipping point.
• Children's health is given high priority. They learn good hygiene practices, such as washing their hands and wiping their nose independently. They sit on specially shaped cushions and foam blocks that help to develop good posture and improve their eating and digestion. Children sleep in cosy beds or relax in a sensory area as they watch twinkling lights and listen to music.
• Children enjoy healthy, home-cooked meals which include fresh vegetables from the nursery allotment. Allergies and dietary requirements are adhered to, and staff work with parents to discuss when and how to make changes to children's dietary needs. Children experience a variety of different tastes and textures in their food. Toddlers talk about the sandwiches they enjoy at teatime. They say that they like egg, tuna, and marmite and cheese. They know that the eggs they are eating come from the chickens in the garden.
• Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities receive good support. Staff understand their individual needs and work closely with outside agencies, such as speech and language therapists, to ensure children make the best possible progress.
• Overall, parents are happy with the care and learning that their children receive. They comment positively about the friendliness and approachability of staff and the provider. However, they feel that they would benefit from even more information sharing to keep them fully informed about where children are in their learning and how they can continue to support children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• implement more-effective supervisions which recognise staff professional development opportunities and training needs and help raise the quality of the already good practice
• review the current behaviour management procedures and support staff to consistently deal with behaviour in an appropriate manner
• share even more information with parents about their child's learning and support them to continue children's learning at home.