Mr Bee's St Augustine's

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children, many of whom are learning to speak English as an additional language, develop warm, trusting relationships with staff. The atmosphere is relaxed and welcoming. Children who find it hard to separate from their parents are particularly well supported. Their key person remains calm and reassuring and, as a result, children soon settle and enjoy their pre-school experience.

Children have daily opportunities to play outside, regardless of the weather. They use their imaginations in the well-equipped outdoor kitchen. They dig and scoop up the wet mud into pots, pretending to make cakes. Children learn how to take safe risks and take turns as they climb steps and wait to slide down the slide safely. They pedal their cars around the outside track, learning which way to go to avoid a collision.

Children show perseverance as they work out how to fit pieces of a puzzle together. They practise early writing skills as they draw with a range of crayons. Children listen carefully as they snuggle in for an impromptu story, joining in with familiar refrains. They move their bodies as they sing the nursery's handwashing song. Staff weave learning opportunities for mathematics into daily routines. This helps children to count with confidence and name shapes, such as 'rectangle' and 'star'. Children learn how to behave because staff model expected behaviour, offering praise when children achieve.

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

• Managers and staff are sensitive to the potential effects of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic on children and their families. They have worked hard to maintain contact and provide support and activities for children to complete at home with their parents.
• The recently appointed acting manager leads her staff team well. There is a clear intent for learning and she oversees the delivery of the curriculum effectively. Staff receive supervision to monitor their practice and support their well-being. There is a good programme of professional development to further enhance staff knowledge and skills.
• All children benefit from an inclusive curriculum. Children with special educational needs and/or disabilities are well supported. Some staff have undertaken specific training, to ensure they offer the best learning opportunities. Staff find out about the children before they start and they make good use of information to plan a range of experiences to capture children's interest. This includes attention to the physical environment and the presentation of resources, many of which are low level and accessible. Children choose what they want to play with and later, when the 'tidy-up bell' is rung, they learn to put toys back in the correct place.
• Staff chat easily with the children. They provide commentary about what children are doing as they pretend to put diesel in their lorry to make it move. Staff have gathered familiar words in some of the children's home languages and have recently introduced sign language, to support those children who find it harder to communicate. However, staff do not always help children who find it difficult to articulate some sounds to pronounce words correctly. At times, children do not have enough time to practise speaking skills, and staff are too quick to pose another question before children have time to think and respond to the previous one.
• Staff maintain eye contact and show kind facial expressions as they play alongside the children. This helps children to feel secure and confident. Children are learning some independence skills. However, at times, staff miss teaching opportunities to extend children's learning and support them to resolve their own minor conflicts. That said, staff help children to understand about their own feelings and those of others. Children show genuine concern for one another as they collect their friend's water bottle, when they see they are thirsty.
• Staff work well with parents, who are complimentary about the service on offer. Parents are kept well informed about their children's learning and development, supported by an online application. They are provided with ideas to further extend their children's learning at home, practical support when toilet training their children, and guidance when their children transition on to school.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support children, particularly those who speak English as an additional language, to further develop their language skills and give them plenty of time to think, formulate answers to questions and practise their speaking and pronunciation skills
• support staff to make the most of teachable moments in order to further extend children's learning, help children to become more independent and support them to begin to resolve their own conflicts.