Oldbury On Severn Busy Bees Playgroup

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are excited to attend the playgroup and settle very quickly. The manager and staff promptly identified that some children were less settled due to COVID-19. This is because they had been at home for long periods with parents and siblings who were still at home when they returned to the playgroup. To regain children's excitement to attend, staff find out about children's new interests and provide activities they enjoy.

The playgroup has a strong ethos of encouraging children to lead in their play. Staff skilfully follow children's interests to progress their development. Staff encourage children who begin to throw toys inside, to go outside and throw balls. This leads to staff placing tyres at different distances and children aim and throw the balls in the holes. Children take turns and adjust their aim accordingly.

Children benefit from the setting being in a rural area and have access to nature. The staff take advantage of the surroundings and provide children with activities to develop their understanding of the world and their physical development. Children make 'bug hotels' and learn to be kind to insects. Children display good behaviour and play cooperatively alongside their peers. They follow instructions well and benefit from the kind manner in which staff speak to them.

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

• The manager has an ambition for children to learn through exploration, creativity, and imagination. This is evident from the confidence that children show while exploring both indoors and outdoors. Staff regularly challenge children to think about different ways of doing things. For example, children discuss a game where the floor turns to lava and they find ways not to fall in. This discussion is extended by staff outdoors where children create obstacle courses to stop them from falling into lava.
• Children who need additional support developing their speech and language, benefit from staff's varied use of vocabulary and modelling of language. Staff quickly identify when there is a delay and pay particular focus to this area to progress children's learning.
• Staff engage children in conversations about what they have been doing and what they are going to do next. For example, when doing an activity about minibeasts, staff first ask the children what they remember from the last activity. They display photographs of previous activities that children participated in, to encourage children to remember what they have learned. Staff use this information to plan for future learning.
• Children make good progress in all areas of learning. They show good levels of confidence and independence. They learn to dress themselves, wash hands, use the toilet and wipe their noses. This prepares them well for the next stage in their learning.
• Staff role model kindness and good manners. On occasion, when children display unwanted behaviour, staff speak to them patiently and skilfully move them on to activities that meet their needs. They support children well in their personal, social and emotional development. They have have made this a priority following the pandemic due to the lack of peer interactions.
• Staff know the children and families well. They identify opportunities that children may not have at home so they can be provided at the playgroup. For example, children who have limited experience in outdoor play develop interests of playing in the mud kitchen and getting messy.
• The manager has reflected on the weaknesses identified at the last inspection and taken steps to make improvements. For example, staff make good use of visual aids to help communicate the next part of the day. They also use a timer to support children in finishing an activity before moving on.
• Parents are extremely complimentary about the playgroup. They comment positively about how happy their children are and the level of information they receive about their child's day.
• The manager provides regular feedback to staff while observing their practice. Despite staff having annual appraisals, they do not always get the opportunity for regular discussions with the manager to further improve the culture of continuous improvement.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• provide staff with more opportunities for regular supervision to discuss support, coaching and training.