PARK PLAYGROUP

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children are happy and secure, arriving eager to play and explore the activities on offer. They move confidently around the setting, selecting toys and resources to play with. Children generally behave well. They build positive relationships with staff, who speak to them in a warm and calm manner. Staff ask meaningful questions about children's experiences, such as special home events or everyday routines, and show sincere interest in children's comments and ideas.

Children demonstrate good levels of concentration and often remain at their chosen activity for extended periods of time. This helps them to practise and develop skills, such as modelling and mark making. For instance, children confidently use different techniques and tools to manipulate dough. They carefully sculpt animals, talking about the different features of each creature. Children talk about their ideas and often use mathematical language, such as shapes and counting, to do this. They develop friendships and often play cooperatively to achieve a shared goal. For example, using a water tap to fill containers and play a game about washing sandy toys.

Staff know children well. They have a good understanding of children's starting points and develop effective partnerships with parents and carers to support children's learning. Staff use this knowledge of children's development and interests to plan engaging activities that capture children's attention and support their next steps in learning. All children, including those with special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), make good progress from their unique starting points.

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

• The manager and staff are passionate about providing high-quality care and education for children. They regularly reflect on their provision and curriculum as well as seeking feedback from parents and other professionals to help them identify ways to further improve and enhance the setting. For instance, they have successfully trialled different ways of communicating children's progress to parents to find an approach that is accessible for all and is manageable for staff.
• Parents praise the friendly, nurturing staff and the level of care they provide. They speak highly about the impact attending has had on their children's learning. Parents feel well informed about their children's experiences and progress. They appreciate staff's proactive approach to supporting children with SEND and those transitioning to school.
• Staff are offered support and encouraged to attending training courses regularly to help them carry out their roles and responsibilities effectively.
• Children enjoy plenty of opportunities to develop the coordination and muscle control they need for early writing. They delight in creative activities, including painting, sand play and cooking in the mud kitchen. Children use the whiteboard and chalkboard in the garden and select the correct tools to mark and clean each one.
• Staff support children to develop self-care skills. They routinely provide opportunities for children to practise brushing their teeth and prepare healthy snacks. Children peel oranges and bananas as well as carefully using knives to chop cucumbers and apples.
• Overall, children behave well and they interact positively with others. Staff remind children of the setting's key rules, such as being kind to others and walking when indoors. Children recall these confidently, but staff do not help them to develop a deeper understanding of the rules and boundaries. As a result, children are not always able to follow the rules when playing independently.
• The manager knows the local area and the challenges that families face. She uses this knowledge to identify areas to spend additional funding that will have the most impact for children.
• Staff make use of spontaneous and adult-led activities to build children's vocabulary and language skills. They draw children into lively conversations and make use of commentary to provide relevant key words and model descriptive language. Staff are skilled at using specific language, such as mathematical or scientific terms. However, they do not always explore topics in enough depth to stretch or support children's understanding. At times, the conversations are shallow and staff do not unpick why or how things work or make use of questions to encourage children to develop their thinking skills.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• strengthen staff's approaches to developing children's understanding of behavioural expectations to help them regulate their behaviour independently
• help staff to develop their interactions with children to encourage a deeper exploration of topics and promote children's thinking skills and active engagement.