Monkton Under 5's Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children happily enter a calm and welcoming space. They are warmly greeted by friendly staff who develop strong relationships with the children. They celebrate children's achievements and offer them meaningful praise. This builds children's confidence and self-esteem.

Children show a positive attitude towards learning. They are engaged and motivated in their chosen activities. The indoor and outside environments are set to provide a range of activities where staff carefully consider what it is that they want children to learn. Children explore as they independently select what they would like to play with. Older children are able to effectively negotiate their play ideas as they take on different characters within their role-play experiences. Children are thrilled when it is their turn to lead a 'show and tell', and demonstrate confidence as they present to their friends.

Children are learning to become independent and begin to take care of themselves. Children put on their own coats before they go outside to play and are learning to pour their own drink from a jug. At snack time, children clear their plates and cups away once they have finished eating. Children are well supported for their next stage of learning and eventual move on to school.

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

• Staff get to know the children well from the start. They gather detailed information about the children and use this to plan their learning. Staff structure the curriculum to support individual children to learn through play. They make ongoing assessments and observations of children, and use these well to develop children's skills.
• Children enjoy listening to stories in small groups and individually. Staff understand the importance of helping children to develop a love of reading. They ensure that children have ready access to a good range of books that support their interests. Staff focus on sharing a book each term. This helps to deeply embed new language and learning.
• Overall, staff support children's emerging communication and language skills well. They introduce new vocabulary as children play. For example, children repeat new words, such as 'herbivore' and 'tusks'. Staff encourage children to discuss their ideas and share their thoughts. However, staff do not always support children to develop their listening skills as much as they could. For example, in their enthusiasm, children sometimes speak loudly over one another or interrupt their peers.
• Children have lots of opportunities to develop their physical skills. The staff organise the garden to fully support children who prefer to learn outside. Staff provide climbing equipment, bicycles and beams to help support children with their balance and coordination. Children are gaining a good understanding of healthy lifestyles. For instance, children practise good hand hygiene routines and identify that milk is good for their teeth.
• There is a strong focus on developing children's literacy skills. For instance, children use chalk to make marks on the ground and gain a sense of pride, as they write their own name on their creations. Children demonstrate they can grip a pencil effectively to form the letters of their name.
• Staff effectively incorporate mathematics into children's play. For example, children are challenged to solve simple problems and create colour sequences, as they explore with the large building blocks. Children explore quantity and number and gain a good understanding of concepts such as length.
• Parents speak highly of the setting. They are kept up to date with their children's learning and development. Staff provide daily feedback and invite parents into the setting to discuss their children's learning. Parents appreciate the progress their children make and the support that staff provide. However, staff have not fully established partnerships with other settings that children attend to share children's next steps and provide continuity in their learning.
• Regular self-evaluation and effective teamworking contribute to a well-organised provision. There are good opportunities for staff's professional development and staff feel valued and respected. Recent improvements to the curriculum have ensured that children can deeply engage in their play and activities, as planning supports the children's interests well.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen support for staff to consistently develop children's listening and turn-taking skills
• enhance partnership working with other settings which children attend to share information about their next steps in learning, and provide a more consistent approach to their learning.