Peapods Early Learning Centre

What is it like to attend this early years setting?

Children arrive excited to learn in this very inviting nursery. Children are warmly greeted by staff, who are highly responsive to their needs. This helps children to build secure attachments. Children feel safe and ready to engage in their learning. The indoor activities are exceptionally well thought out to encourage children to be curious and eager to learn more. For example, in a large planting area, children plant seeds and explore the various herbs and plants through touch and smell. They compare the healthy growth of humans to the healthy growth of plants through food and light. Children demonstrate confidence by contributing their ideas with staff and ask questions to broaden their understanding. For example, when children measure porridge on weighing scales, they ask how to make it 'heavier'. They delight when liquid is mixed to create a heavy mixture to move the weighing scales in the opposite direction.

The environment is ambitiously designed to create children's love of literacy and language. Children are taught how to handle books carefully. They love to listen to stories and interact with the props provided. Children listen to the story of 'Goldilocks and the Three Bears', and staff extend the story with a further activity. Children eagerly follow the footprint trail around the room to find Goldilocks and show excitement at finding the broken chair from the story. Staff introduce new language, such as 'investigate', to broaden children's knowledge and vocabularies. Staff treat children with respect and kindness. This leads to children's behaviour being exemplary. Children are given a voice to make choices throughout the day. Their confidence is promoted within the nursery, which helps to promote children's individual responsibility.

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

• Staff provide children with a rich variety of learning experiences to cover all areas of learning. They plan activities that provide children with challenge and encourage their curiosity. Staff use their knowledge of each child to build on the curriculum and provide highly stimulating and engaging activities. As a result, children demonstrate high levels of engagement and motivation to accelerate their learning.
• Staff provide well-thought-out activities to provide children with an understanding of the world and the community around them. Children share their experiences of their home cultures. Staff use all opportunities to celebrate diversity. For example, children bring costumes from home to share in dressing up and celebrations. Staff use keywords from children's home languages to support their transition into the nursery from home. This helps children to feel safe and secure.
• Children are provided with freshly prepared and well-balanced vegetarian meals, which are cooked on site. Children learn how to stay healthy. For example, they explore high-quality resources when they learn about good oral health. Children enjoyed a visit from a dentist to discuss how to look after their teeth, which they excitedly recall.
• Children learn excellent independence skills. They are encouraged through an 'ambassador role' how to take responsibility for themselves and their friends. From the baby room to the pre-school room, children are encouraged to help themselves. This ranges from learning about touching food with their hands, to holding a spoon, to pulling up a zip and to buttoning a coat. Children get a sense of achievement.
• Staff are passionate in ensuring that all children make rapid progress, including children with special educational needs and/or disabilities. Staff's planning for each child is challenging but achievable, with targets set for children to work towards. For example, to support children's language, staff provide intervention sessions when they use visual cards and language boxes to support children's vocabularies and early language.
• Staff work closely with parents and external professionals to ensure that their children have the best possible support. Parents speak very highly of the setting and staff. Staff update them about their children each day. They ensure that they provide ideas for children to continue their learning at home.
• Parents have regular meetings to discuss their child's next steps in learning and new interests. This helps staff to constantly plan effectively to engage all children. Staff provide regular parent workshops to support parents' skills and abilities to help their child's learning and development.
• Leaders are passionate about providing high-quality care and education. Staff are given significant opportunities to develop their knowledge in providing the best possible care for children. They receive a broad range of training opportunities to ensure that the quality of their teaching remains consistently high.
• Leaders listen to their staff and value their well-being through reward. Staff appreciate the recognition and remain passionate and enthusiastic in being part of a highly effective team.