Parklanes Wykeham Childcare Ltd.

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive happy and excited. They confidently say goodbye to their parents and carers. Staff receive children with a warm welcome at the beginning of their session. Children have a good understanding of the daily routine, such as finding their pegs to hang up their coat. They make the most of their time at nursery and explore the broad range of activities available. Children enjoy the group activities that staff make available for the day. They enjoy reading stories with a member of staff. They love changing the books within the cosy area in the shed outside.

Staff plan the learning environment to encourage children's interest and curiosity. Children are excited and focused in their learning. They enjoy making pretend soup in the mud kitchen and explore the texture. Children confidently scoop, pour and weigh sand in the tray. Staff support children to count scoops to fill up the sand moulds and buckets. Children also like to play inside. They make connections to their own home lives and daily activities, such as through pretend play with babies, cooking and dressing up. This supports their understanding of the world.

Staff teach children to understand cause and effect. For instance, they encourage children to place the dinosaurs' feet into dough. Through this activity, they learn about creating patterns in the dough using the dinosaurs' feet. All staff set high expectations for behaviour, which all children follow. All children behave well and treat each other with respect and kindness. Children are supported by staff to recognise their feelings and emotions, especially towards each other. Children demonstrate they feel safe and well cared for by staff. They seek out cuddles during small-group story times and look for staff for reassurance when needed.

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

• Staff know children's needs and interests. They use efficient systems to check children's learning. This helps staff identify the needs of children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff use the progress check when children are aged between two and three years to identify any concerns or delays in children's development early. Staff work closely with external partners and agencies. They obtain support from the local authority, including the area special educational needs coordinator. This allows staff to adapt the curriculum to support all children to make progress.
• Leaders and staff plan an ambitious curriculum. Staff support all children to gain a good foundation in their learning. They use regular observations to help them identify what children can do and the next steps in their learning. This helps children to learn the skills they need for moving on to school. However, staff do not consistently define and sequence their plans for all activities. For example, on occasion, staff correct children's representation of numbers using marks by drawing the number for them. This means that staff do not always extend children's thinking skills to help them make the best possible progress.
• Staff encourage children to select their own resources based on their interests. Children also take part in tidying up and are independent in their play. Staff help children to understand other people's cultures and beliefs. For example, they teach children about different cultural and religious festivals.
• Staff place a focus on children's mathematics development in the setting. Children enjoy a group activity about numbers. They independently count, showing an understanding of one-to-one correspondence. Older children recall smaller numbers without having to count them individually.
• Children explore activities that support their communication and language skills. Staff deliver effective small-group activities that focus on children developing their listening skills. They help children develop a love of stories by reading to children or using songs and rhyme to support their recall. This supports children's understanding of reading and sharing stories.
• There is a strong emphasis on parent partnership in this setting. Parents talk about the positive support they receive from staff. For example, staff support them with advice on toilet training and sleep. Parents receive regular ideas about how they can continue their child's learning at home. They also value daily updates on their children's progress and next steps in learning.
• Staff support children's personal hygiene and health effectively. This is evident as children wash their own hands before eating their range of healthy snacks. Staff also support children to develop oral hygiene, such as through brushing their teeth. Children have access to an outdoor area that allows them to climb and ride tricycles to help support their physical development.
• Staff enjoy working at the setting. They value the support provided by leaders to manage their workload, professional development and well-being. For example, leaders introduced the use of floor books. Staff feel this reduces paperwork and allows for more time to spend interacting with children. Staff support children's learning well through effective deployment.

What the setting must and should do next

The provider should:

• support staff to enhance their knowledge of how to sequence children's learning during all activities.