Norto5 Kidz Academy - Lindfield

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children enter this welcoming setting eager to play. They settle quickly to explore the activities, as staff plan these well to interest and motivate them. Children make good progress. Staff prioritise children's happiness, and they are at the heart of what they do. Children laugh and chatter with staff who show a keen interest in what they say. This promotes children's confidence and self-esteem. Staff ensure all children are included. They learn words in children's home languages to support those who speak English as an additional language to settle in well. Staff are good role models and are kind and caring in their approach. Children feel safe and develop positive attitudes to their learning.

Staff successfully plan a curriculum based on children's next steps and any gaps in learning. Children delight in mixing their own juices with different fruits, talking about the different ingredients. This promotes children's communication and social skills. Staff praise and encourage children. They celebrate children's successes by clapping when they manage tasks themselves. This supports children's positive behaviour. Children behave well. They help find their friends' water bottles for them and take turns feeding the pet caterpillar. This develops children's understanding of the wider world and experience of caring for things.

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

• Leaders and managers have made significant improvements since the last inspection. They are committed to improving practice and provision. They ensure children have access to high-quality teaching and learning. Staff are well trained. This supports children's learning and development effectively.
• Staff have high expectations for children and support their thinking skills well. For example, children listen intently as staff explain how pine cones open and close in different weathers. They spend a long time fascinated by a caterpillar, talking about how he will change into a butterfly soon. This promotes children's knowledge, understanding and thinking skills.
• Staff are well supported. Leaders and managers focus well on staff's well-being. They encourage staff to undertake further qualifications to support their knowledge and skills. They ensure staff have a range of opportunities to share practice. This ensures ongoing improvements to practice and provision.
• Overall, staff promote children's independence well. Children immediately offer to help set the table for snack time. They ask politely to go to the toilet and wash their own hands. However, on occasion, staff do things for children that they are capable of doing, such as pouring drinks and serving themselves at meal times. This affects opportunities for children to consistently practise and extend their self-care and independence skills.
• Leaders and managers are proactive. They seek advice and support from a range of partners such as the local authority to support improvements. They have worked hard to improve what they offer to children and families. For example, new planning systems and information sharing have had a positive impact on staff's confidence and understanding of their roles and responsibilities.
• Communication with parents is effective. Parents talk highly of the setting. They appreciate the range of ways staff update them on their children's progress. Their feedback is sought and used to adapt practice. For example, parents requested ideas to support their children at home and now have individual home learning packs to support specific skills for school. Parents say their children have made significant progress and they love attending.
• Staff promote children's language skills well. They have created a language-rich environment where they read and share stories regularly with children. This fosters a love of reading and ensures children are ready for the next stage in their learning journey. Staff ensure children have smooth transitions to school. They share information effectively with nearby schools to make sure children are well prepared.
• Staff provide a high-quality education for children. They ensure children's individual needs are well supported, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities. There is a well-embedded key person system in place, which ensures all staff know what children are working on next and how to support them effectively.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to develop a more consistent approach to encouraging children's independence skills during daily routines.