Midget Gems

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff create a friendly, welcoming environment. They are well qualified, very experienced and have worked together a long time. Children show they feel safe with them. They arrive happily and are settled and busy throughout the day. Leaders acknowledge the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to have on children's development. They have placed a high focus on supporting children's personal, social and emotional development. This offers a great deal of comfort to children and reassurance to parents.

Children develop pleasant friendships and play well with their peers. Older children learn to acknowledge the needs of the younger ones. Staff model pleasant manners and consistently reinforce children's good behaviour. They praise children warmly for their 'good waiting' or 'good sharing'. Children know what is expected of them and they behave very well.

Staff help children to stay focused in their play and learning. They introduce mathematical concepts and new vocabulary wherever children choose to play. Children are proud of the praise they receive for their efforts and successes. Consequently, they are motivated to try again when a construction task is tricky. They also practise the task again when they have managed to click the pieces together. Children go on to build impressive flying machines.

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

• Staff know the children and their families very well. This has a significant impact on children's learning and care. Staff know precisely what children need to learn and practise. They understand that changes at home can sometimes have an impact on children's behaviour and development. Staff consistently help children to make the best progress possible. Parents confirm that they are reassured by the quality of care and education their children receive.
• Staff work effectively with the local authority and other services. This means that children with special educational needs and/or disabilities get the support they need to catch up with their peers. Staff have considerable knowledge and useful experience in securing the necessary support.
• Staff talk enthusiastically about recent training on mathematics and social learning. They explain how it influences their practice and continually improves the curriculum they follow. Training is successfully shared with all staff. This means that techniques for gaining children's attention work very well in practice. Children are used to listening to and heeding adults. This promotes their learning and their safety.
• There is a happy flow of conversation throughout the day. Staff model good language to the children. They often weave in simple sign language to help children express themselves. Staff repeat single words for the toddlers to copy, and they successfully extend older children's vocabulary. Children enjoy books, stories and rhymes. Older children are keen to join in with well-known sections. Books are selected to enhance children's learning in other areas. For example, while enjoying 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar', children practise counting the strawberries and oranges in the story. They learn vocabulary to talk about the life cycle of a butterfly. Stories and conversations also inspire children's artwork. Children talk in some detail about the ghosts or cars in their pictures.
• Staff plan a rich learning environment, indoors and outdoors, that inspires children to explore. Children engage themselves fully in the activities provided. They enjoy practising their physical skills or playing in the mud kitchen outside in the fresh air each day. This benefits children's health and development. However, children's interest in the living world around them is not fully harnessed. For example, there are times when there are no bushes, plants or bird feeders in the yard. This means there are limited insects or other wildlife to spark children's interest, or to consolidate what they have seen in stories and books.
• Children confidently follow purposeful routines that promote their health and development. They become increasingly independent. For example, they automatically wash their hands before lunch and get their own coats on ready to play outside. The most able children blow their noses independently and put the tissue in the bin afterwards. Staff remind children to drink their water regularly to stay healthy. Children know which is their own bottle or cup.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• consider ways to spark children's interest and increase their active involvement in the living world around them throughout the year.