Noah's Ark Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children receive emotional support from staff when they first start attending. This helps them to settle quickly. Some children glance back to their parents and blow a kiss when they leave them. This is because they are excited to arrive and play in the well-resourced and inviting playroom. Staff and children quickly form strong bonds with one another. Children involve staff in their play and sit on their knee to complete activities. Children learn to share and take turns with others. For example, when they play a game with their friends, they take it in turn to throw a dice and answer questions.

Staff understand how children develop. They plan experiences to help develop children's understanding and their large-muscle skills. Staff ask children to join in with action rhymes and to follow instructions. For example, children touch their heads, shoulders, knees and toes. When staff ask them if they can go faster, children laugh and giggle with their friends and repeat the actions quicker. Outdoors, children ride on tricycles and balance bikes. They negotiate a pathway, moving in and out of other children and obstacles safely. Staff help children to learn new skills that support their small-muscle control. For example, children copy staff and learn how to roll dough in between their hands to make small ball shapes.

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

• Staff have clear rules and boundaries in place and give children gentle reminders about these. For example, when children run indoors, staff ask them what they should do. Children reply and say that they 'need to walk inside'. When staff engage children in planned activities, they talk to them about the rules at the start of the activity. For example, staff remind children to listen and take turns with their friends.
• When children with special educational needs and/or disabilities first start attending, the manager and deputy manager visit them in their home. This helps them to get to know children. It provides opportunities to speak to parents about children's individual needs. The special educational needs coordinator works closely with parents and other professionals to provide specialist equipment for children. This helps to meet their individual physical needs.
• Staff know the children well and plan a broad and balanced range of activities and experiences to support their learning. For example, staff encourage children to be creative and to explore and investigate a range of materials. Children use water, soap and different colours to pretend to make 'potions'. They confidently talk about their experiments. When they turn the water blue, they are keen to tell staff that it looks like 'ocean water'.
• Staff encourage parents to provide healthy foods for their children. They offer children healthy drinks, such as milk or water. However, staff do not consistently support children to understand about the benefits of healthy practices and how these can promote good oral hygiene habits.
• The manager supports staff's well-being. For instance, because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the manager regularly checks in with staff and asks them how they are feeling. The manager continues to support staff through supervision meetings. This helps staff to reflect on their practice and to identify further professional development opportunities. Recent training has extended staff's knowledge of how to support children with their emotions and feelings when they arrive at the playgroup.
• The manager uses additional funding effectively to offer children new experiences. For example, staff take children on a bus and to soft-play centres and farm parks. This helps to broaden children's horizons.
• The daily routines in the playgroup generally run efficiently. Children have opportunities to eat, exercise and play outdoors, which enhances their well-being. However, occasionally, staff do not recognise that younger children become restless when they have to wait for others to join their table at lunchtime.
• Staff encourage children to learn skills that will help them in the future. They encourage children to develop confidence to talk about their views and thoughts. Staff ask children a good range of questions and give them time to think and respond.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to give children clear and consistent messages to help them develop an understanding of healthy practices, such as promoting good oral hygiene habits
• improve staff's understanding of how to organise some parts of the daily routine to ensure that younger children are suitably engaged while they wait for their lunch.