Medbourne Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enjoy the wide variety of stimulating experiences on offer. They immerse themselves in play after confidently entering the setting. Staff use children's interests to plan exciting activities. For example, children watch a volcano in amazement as baking soda and vinegar cause it to erupt. They shout, 'Wow', as the liquid runs down the side and have discussions about how it smells and looks. Children make car shapes out of play dough and put them onto a plate to make a 'traffic jam'. They discuss where the cars may be going, using their imagination to create a story.

Children are curious about the natural world and the staff embrace this. The outdoor space is used by staff to encourage children to develop in all areas of learning. Children observe the changing of the seasons, collect items to make bird nests and identify different wildflowers. Children are developing a sense of community as they wave at a variety of vehicles and people passing by. Visitors from local villages come in to show the children kittens and ducks.

Children have strong bonds with the staff team. Children willingly go to staff for help and support. Children behave well. Staff support them during minor conflicts. They offer suggestions on how they might be resolved. Children learn how to play cooperatively and share toys with their friends. Staff model using good manners throughout the day. Children's independence is encouraged. They put on their own coats for outdoor play and attempt to do up their zips and buttons by themselves.

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

• Children have plenty of opportunity to develop physical skills and be active. They run around giggling together outside. Children are supported to climb and jump out of a small tree. They build towers out of large blocks and laugh as they topple over. Staff talk to children about food at mealtimes. They discuss which foods are healthy and good for them. Children are learning what constitutes a healthy lifestyle.
• Staff have built up strong relationships with parents. They use a variety of ways to communicate and share information. Parents comment that they have seen developments in their children's confidence since starting at the setting. Staff encourage parents to continue children's learning at home. For example, children took home bird feeders they had made to hang in their gardens and they report back which birds they have seen.
• Overall, children's communication and language are well supported. Staff use a mixture of stories, songs and rhymes throughout the day. Children are fascinated and engaged when listening to a story at group time and join in the parts they know. However, staff do not consistently support language in play.
• They, at times, use closed questioning and can ask children too many questions. As a result, children are not given opportunities to extend language or enough time to respond.
• Staff ensure that children revisit learning experiences. This helps them secure their skills and knowledge. Children enjoy attempting to again complete a tricky dinosaur puzzle that they had mastered the day before. Children follow the routine of the day well. They know what is expected of them at different times because this is repeated daily.
• Children benefit from a well-established, knowledgeable staff team. Staff use effective communication tools to share information between each other. However, staff do not yet have regular, effective supervisions with the manager. Therefore, they are not given this opportunity to confidentially discuss any concerns or be provided with support that promotes the interests of children.
• Staff support children in developing skills they may use at school. They explore sounds and early phonics using a 'sound bag' with the children. The bag contains interesting items starting with the 'letter of the week' for the children to talk about. Children are given opportunities to develop writing skills. They make labels for plants and are encouraged to write their name on their pictures. Staff use early mathematical language throughout the day. For example, they use words such as big, small, long and short in activities. Children count out cups as they have snack time.
• Children's individual thoughts and curiosity are used to plan activities. This allows them to become interested and engaged in learning. For example, a child wondered what would happen if plants were not watered. Staff skilfully used this idea to create an experiment. Children watch over time as differences appear between two beans as they water one and not the other. They make predictions on what might happen.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to improve their questioning techniques to ensure children's language is consistently developed in play
• develop an effective supervision process to give staff opportunities to discuss any concerns and receive support that promotes the interests of children.