Over The Rainbow

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are cared for by dedicated and passionate staff who have high expectations of what children can achieve. Activities promote children's curiosity, awe and wonder about the natural world around them. For example, children discuss what they can use to melt ice, experimenting with warm water and salt. Toddlers enthusiastically play with water, pouring, filling and noticing how water travels down the water wall. Children are motivated to learn. They are happy, content and demonstrate that they feel safe and secure through their positive interactions. Children concentrate on their chosen activities, and their playrooms are a hive of activity and learning.

Children behave well for their age. They relish the responsibility of being a 'mealtime' or 'tidy-up' monitor, as they wear special badges to indicate their role. Children listen attentively to the instructions given by staff. Their efforts are warmly celebrated by staff.

Staff worked extremely hard to support children and their families during the pandemic. They maintained communication through regular phone calls, emails and social media engagements. Furthermore, staff completed doorstep deliveries to provide children with home learning packs. This helped to ensure that the momentum in children's learning was not lost and aided their smooth transition back to nursery after periods of lockdown. Subsequently, children display high levels of resilience and confidence.

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

• Staff plan activities that reflect children's interests and what they need to learn next. They draw on the extensive information that they gather through their first-hand observations and strong partnerships with parents, to plan purposefully for children's continued learning. However, sometimes, staff do not embrace opportunities to challenge children's learning further. They do not consistently make the most of spontaneous opportunities in children's play to enhance and deepen children's knowledge and understanding. That said, all children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities and those who speak English as an additional language, make good progress.
• Staff interact well with the children. They are playful in their approach, which motivates children to explore and investigate. Children enjoy exploring wooden blocks and constructing a bridge over a 'river'. However, on occasion, staff do not skilfully differentiate activities to meet the needs of all children. This means that occasionally, those less confident and quieter children do not fully benefit from the learning opportunities provided.
• Children without question are developing the essential skills needed for future learning. Staff have a robust knowledge of child development and how to build children's learning sequentially. Young children develop the muscles in their shoulders as they make large-scale marks with a variety of tools. Older children explore play dough and use stickers, which they carefully peel off protective paper and stick onto templates. These activities ensure that children have the essential skills needed in readiness for holding a pencil and writing.
• Considerable attention is given to supporting children to learn how to keep themselves healthy and safe. Children understand that an hourly alarm reminds them to drink water. They understand the importance of remaining hydrated during the warm weather and eagerly share knowledge this with the inspector. Children know that if they choose to play outside they must always wear a sun hat and sunscreen. Older children are encouraged to develop essential life skills as they use child safety knives to chop up fruit and vegetables at snack time and when playing in the home corner.
• Children benefit from calm and cosy areas throughout the setting where they can retreat to if needed and develop their skills in managing their feelings and behaviour. This supports children's emotional resilience and encourages children to develop empathy for others. Leaders have recently created a 'well-being champion', recognising the importance of staff's welfare. This has resulted in engaged staff who feel extremely well supported and recognised in their role. This has had a highly positive impact on how staff interact with children, which contributes significantly to positive outcomes for children.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's confidence to embrace opportunities as they occur in children play to further challenge and enhance children's learning and understanding
• support staff to develop their teaching skills so that they confidently differentiate activities and ensure that those less confident children benefit fully from the learning opportunities provided.