Muddy Puddles Pre-School

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Staff give children a warm welcome as they happily come into the setting. Children settle quickly in the well-planned environment. Staff offer a wide range of learning opportunities to meet the needs and interests of the children. For example, older children are supported to play board games of their choice with their friends, while younger children enjoy playing in the home corner.

Staff allow children to take the lead in their learning, and they introduce different resources to the children while they play. For instance, children enjoy painting with paint brushes and staff introduce cotton buds. The children talk about the different marks and textures they are making on the paper. Children enjoy being creative as they mix and create different colours of paint. They have a sense of pride as they talk to staff about what they have created and display their pictures. This helps to develop children's confidence and self-esteem.

Staff behave as positive role models. They teach children about being kind to others and thinking of their friends. For example, the older children help the younger children as they move around the large garden. Children consistently show that they understand how to share and take turns. For instance, children use timers to wait patiently for their go on the tree swing. They know when their time is finished and encourage their friends to have their turn.

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

• The provider is passionate about their role and puts a strong emphasis on staff well-being. Staff express that they feel valued and well supported. They have regular supervision and access to ongoing professional development. The provider uses additional funding that children are entitled to effectively. For example, staff have attended specific training to support children's individual needs. The managers and staff continually reflect as a team to develop and enhance the setting. For instance, they have developed an area in the garden where children learn about planting. The provider, however, has failed to notify Ofsted of a change to the individuals who are associated with the setting. Following discussion, they now understand their responsibility to do this, and the event did not impact on the safety of the children or the running of the setting.
• Staff have a clear curriculum in place and, overall, plan a broad range of exciting activities that generally engage children well and follow children's interests. For example, children enjoy exploring outside for worms and staff use this as an opportunity to extend children's language and introduce new words, such as 'habitat'. However, at times the curriculum does not fully support younger children's learning. For instance, some activities are too challenging or not accessible for the youngest children. This does not consistently support their developmental needs.
• Support for children with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND) and English as an additional language is good. Staff have implemented a range of strategies to support learning, such as speech and language activities that are shared with parents. Staff work closely with parents and other professionals, making timely referrals for children who need them. This helps children with SEND receive the support they need at the earliest opportunity.
• Staff support children to behave well most of the time. Children are supported to confidently follow the routines of the day. For example, they independently wash their hands and collect their snack box, then find their place mat at the table. However, staff do not always encourage children to take responsibility for the toys they play with. For instance, on occasion this results in a disorganised environment, which makes it difficult for children to choose resources and move around confidently. This does not support children to learn about looking after things or respecting their environment.
• Partnerships with parents are strong. Staff communicate extremely well with parents throughout their children's time at the setting. For instance, staff regularly share children's progress and agree their next steps in learning together.
• Children explore a range of activities to promote a healthy lifestyle. Staff support and encourage children to take part in active games outside. For example, children excitedly engage in familiar music and movement games and staff praise them as they follow the instructions. During mealtimes, staff talk to the children about the food they eat and how this affects their bodies. Children join in with these discussions, developing a deeper understanding of good choices to help keep them healthy.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen the curriculum for babies so that the youngest children have well planned opportunities to engage in learning to support their development
• support staff to consistently help children learn about the importance of taking responsibility for their environment.