Minihome Ltd

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Managers and staff welcome children warmly and help them to engage in the stimulating activities on offer. This helps children to feel happy and well settled. Staff regularly have conversations with children. For example, they ask how they are feeling, checking on children who are dealing with changes in their home life, such as having a new baby sibling. Staff are sensitive and respond to children's emotional needs well.

Staff thoughtfully plan the learning environment and consider children's interests well. Children enthusiastically access the outdoor provision, where staff support them to build on their physical skills. Children are encouraged to practise balancing on beams, complete challenging obstacle courses and use different-sized paintbrushes to paint the wall. This helps to support children's different physical skills well.

Staff recognise the importance of supporting children's emotional development. They support children to learn different strategies to manage their emotions and behaviour. For example, staff show children how to take turns when they argue over playing with the same toy. This helps children to behave well and develop positive attitudes to learning. Children confidently seek staff out to read with them. Staff offer praise to children for good listening and for trying their best. This helps children to feel safe and valued. In addition, staff are positive role models for children. This contributes to children demonstrating good manners and supports them to build positive relationships with staff and their friends. Children who need additional support with their learning are supported well by staff and make good progress.

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

• The key-person system is effective. Staff know their key children well, what they can do and what skills and knowledge they need to develop further. Staff plan a curriculum that is broad, well balanced and personalised to individual children's stage of development. This helps children to make good progress.
• Staff plan activities such as story time well. They thoughtfully plan resources, such as using puppets to help children retell stories. Staff introduce children to a wide range of vocabulary and ask children questions to check their understanding. Staff provide high-quality, purposeful interactions that are age- and stage-appropriate. For example, younger children and those who require additional support benefit from activities such as 'What's in the bag?' Staff provide repetitive language and clearly spoken words to help children develop their language and communication skills well.
• Generally, staff help children to behave well. They support children to follow a daily routine and most have high expectations of children's behaviour. However, on occasion, some staff do not give consistent messages to children about how they expect them to behave and why.
• Staff support children to develop their mathematical skills well. They plan activities that enable children to explore different mathematical concepts, such as measure. Staff encourage children to use vocabulary related to capacity when they fill different-sized jugs with water, such as 'full', 'empty' and 'half full'.
• Overall, most staff support children to develop their independence skills well. For example, in the pre-school room, children work in small groups to set up for mealtimes. They serve their own lunch and pour their own drinks. However, at times, some staff are not consistent in helping children to be responsible and do things for themselves, such as encouraging them to tidy up when they have finished their play.
• Managers support staff to keep their safeguarding knowledge up to date. This helps to ensure children's welfare is managed well. Staff are complimentary about the supportive managers and having ample opportunities to access additional training to enhance their practice. Managers prioritise staff well-being. For example, they offer staff a range of activities, such as yoga and massage sessions, that help them relax. This helps staff feel valued and supports their good well-being.
• Partnership with parents is strong. Parents compliment the high levels of communication they receive related to their child's learning and development. They are thrilled at the progress their children make and value the support they receive to aid their children's learning at home.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide more opportunities for children to continue to build on their independence skills further
• support staff to consistently reinforce behaviour expectations to help children understand why behaviour rules are in place.